Mrs. Jonathan was relatively inconspicuous during her
husband's time as Vice President under late President Umaru Musa Yaradua when
Hajia Turai Yaradua held sway as the indomitable First Lady.
But in the usual Niger Delta arrogance, Patience took
over from where Turai stopped, just two years before the demise of her husband.
Since then, things have not been the same as the Rivers state born madam wasted
no time in showing the real face behind the mask.
She became so powerful that many began to refer to her
as the real president of Nigeria, in place of her husband. Most of those who
wanted some form of patronage or high profile contracts from her husband must
first pay homage to her, and not without throwing some hard currencies. It
became a lifestyle in the presidential villa where her personal aides would
extort thousands of dollars from desperate politicians, contractors and
political jobbers. Her retinue of friends and close associates includes the
likes of Billionaire oil magnate, Hajiya Bola Shagaya and wife of the Senate
President, Helen Mark.
Not even the Minister of Women Affairs or the Women
leader of the PDP could run things without her express approval. Her Women for
Change Initiative and Development was only known to campaign for the election
and reelection bid of her husband. The 35 per cent affirmative action for women
in elective positions was a mere academic exercise as majority of those close
to her failed woefully during the just concluded elections.
The Madam of Aso Rock had told Nigerians during the
PDP Women rallies that her husband who represents the people of the South South
must complete his two tenures as President. She claimed that it was only just
and right for Jonathan to be reelected for a second term since other zones had
their fair share, apparently referring to only President Olusegun Obasanjo who
ruled for eight years. Yaradua form Katsina, where General Buhari, the
president-elect comes from, never completed a tenure as it was aborted two
years into his tenure by the fangs of death. The North Central zone thus lost
their own equity when Jonathan insisted he was on a joint ticket with Yaradua,
as such, he must complete the two mandatory terms thereby disenfranchising the
people of the North Central.
Mrs. Jonathan literally took over as her husband's
unofficial campaign manager of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation. With
an alleged budget of N21bn, she traversed the nooks and crannies of the
country, preaching her message in a more sagastic and rugged manner.
Both caution and restraint were thrown to the winds as
she took on any perceived opponent of her husband, anywhere she went. Her
speeches were laden with raw venom as she cast aspersions on the person of
General Buhari, her husband's front line opponent and candidate of the APC.
Mama Peace as she asked to be addressed was not in for
peace at all, after all, General Buhari was a former Head of State and C-in-C
while her husband is the current President and C-in-C. Patience left no stone
unturned in her bid to remain the No.1 occupant of Aso Rock until she began to
ask that anyone who chants the APC slogan of "Change" should be
stoned. This was at Calabar, less than 24 hours after she buried the ash
remains of the best of Bayelsa Women in politics who had died in their course
of following her to campaign for a permanent residence in Aso Rock. In the open
glare of both national and international watchers, she called General Buhari,
"brain dead" and a "crawling baby at 70".
Unfortunately, there was nothing to show that her
husband nor her handlers had called her to other. The final blow on the north
was her description of the people as "born throw way", apparently
referring to the unfortunate street children known as the 'Almajiris' in local
parlance. That did not go down well with the northerners, PDP and APC alike.
Her campaign speeches were full of hate as she further whittled down the
popularity of her husband.
Though she was desperate to retain the first lady
status for another four years, her meddlesomeness in state issues particularly
during the abduction of the Chibok Girls where she summoned security meetings
with Service Chiefs dismayed many Nigerians.
But her first public display of power was in 2011 when
she visited Rivers State and was received by the Governor, Chibuike Amaechi. As
the governor conducted her round the projects executed by his government in her
native community, Okrika, Mama Peace lost her cool and snatched the microphone
from the governor who was explaining to her why his government must have to
relocate the indigenes who had encroached into the space meant for the school
children's playground. A visibly angry Patience who had lost her patience with
Amaechi, in full public glare, took the governor to the cleaners. She warned
him to desist from trespassing without the approval of the natives even if he
wanted to develop the area. Though Amaechi did not react to her tantrums, he
was said to have withdrawn from the reception being accorded the First Lady by
her people.
That smacked off a media war as the Press was not kind
to her for embarrassing an elected governor. Thus, the foundation for the
political skirmish between the presidency and the state governor was laid.
There was a crack in Amaechi's camp as his former Chief of Staff, Nyesom Wike
whom he nominated as a Minister under Jonathan joined forces with the First
Lady to fight Amaechi politically. Some of the commissioners in Amaechi's
cabinet eventually resigned their appointments to pitch tent with Wike.
The battle for the soul of Rivers thus began. Patience
Jonathan had her eyes on the state to enthrone a successor who would be loyal
to her. In Wike, she found a suitable and formidable ally, and both of them
plotted the fall of Amaechi. While the governor took his battle beyond the
state to the national front, to stop Jonathan's reelection, first for his
seeming refusal to call his wife to order, Amaechi's detractors were upbeat to
take over the state, after all, the state has a huge purse that could help buy
any governor more friends and associates.
The president's wife was ever ready to protect her
newly adopted political son even when her Ijaw people refused to support his
cadidature on reason of rotation and zoning.
Wike, against all odds, emerged as the candidate of
the PDP while Amaechi nominated Dakuku Peterside for the APC. It was more like
a battlefield in Rivers state.
After the loss of President Jonathan at the Polls on
March 28, there were signs of grave danger for the PDP in the state. It was
obvious that the Security Agencies would turn around and pledge loyalty to the in
coming C-in-C, a government Amaechi did not only play a crucial role for its
emergence but would further play a prominent role.
And like a child who cries out to his mother when
confronted by a stronger enemy, Wike quickly cried for help, and came Patience
Jonathan to Rivers state on March 8. She practically abdicated her throne in
Aso Rock and relocated to Port Harcourt, from where she again summoned the
security heads to her home where she asked for their alleged complicity in the
electoral fraud, which has put the state in the news for the bad reasons again.
The refusal of the Assistant Inspector General of
Police in charge of Zone 6, Tunde Ogunsakin, who was deployed to Rivers state
by the Inspector General of Police, Suleman Abba,on a special duty, incurred
the wrath of the president's wife who put a call through to her husband. In
turn, Jonathan ordered the IGP to transfer Ogunsakin back to Calabar on the
morning of the election. Ogunsakin's sin was that he had ordered the recall of
the DPO in-charge of Buguma back to Port Harcourt for his complicity in aiding
the PDP members there to cart away electoral materials.
Also, the several meetings and the claims by Amaechi
that there would no longer be a repeat of what happened during the presidential
elections where the Police was used to arrest and detain several APC chieftains
on trumped up charges, further created panic within the PDP hierarchy in the
state. Two days before the election, there was a raid around Wike’s Community
where some thugs were arrested with arms.
Sensing danger, and not wanting to relocate to her
husband's remote village of Otuoke, Mrs. Jonathan summoned the Brigade
Commander and the Commandant of Mopol 19 to her house, where she castigated
them for their perceived shift in loyalty to Amaechi. She was said to have
requested for her husband's support who quickly obliged and ordered the
security chiefs to ensure support for Wike and the PDP.
Less than 24 hours to the election, the security
agencies had relaxed their manhunt after armed thugs and militias, as such, the
PDP, again, had a field day.
It was a reign of terror and impunity as electoral
materials were carted away in the presence of policemen, who, in some cases,
aided the culprits. The governor and the APC were again helpless as they were
deceived yet again by the security agencies. His party members had no Plan B on
the rigging process as well as violence, as such, the better prepared and
equipped rival PDP had their way.
The first Lady was conspicuously absent in Otuoke when
her husband went with his mother to cast their votes. When asked by
journalists, he feigned ignorance of her whereabouts rather he claimed they
flew in different aircrafts. Until the elections were over, Patience never
showed up in Otuoke. She rather spent time in her native home Okrika where she
ensured through the instrumentality of the militants that no one voted any
other party but PDP.
The zeal, with which Mama Peace exhibited the success
of Nyesom Wike at the polls to occupy the Brick House come May 29, would have
rather been exhibited to guarantee her continuous stay in Aso Rock.
The question is: Why did Patience Jonathan settle for
less from Aso Rock to the Brick House?
Many say she believes it’s only a PDP win in Rivers
that would guarantee her a stay in her Port Harcourt mansion after their exit
from Aso Rock on May 29.
After all, no matter the lure of money to be shared in
the state, it is nothing when compared to the power she wielded as the
country's unofficial President.
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