THESE are times when every statements made of political figures are read through partisan lenses. This is surely not the first time I will be making this point since the contest for the Nigerian presidency in the elections due next week became a two horse race between Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan.
It may however be the last time I will make such observation before the March 28 elections.
And as I have said on those previous occasions when I had made the observation on how political motives are read into what one would consider obvious statements of facts, the fear of personal attack and insults should not be a consideration in such matters. To paraphrase Achebe, I am not that muslim who would eat pork for fear of controversy.
So let those who must feel free to display cowardice by hurling their trademark insults and thoughtless remarks while conveniently hidden behind false cyber identities. If anything, they have wonderful examples to copy from their friends at the presidency in Abuja. Not the least of whom is the subject of our talking point for this week.
It can no longer be news that Patience Jonathan, wife of the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan has again been at her familiar game of making statements that portray her as being utterly unaware of her exalted position as the wife of the president of the most populous black nation on our planet. She has been hurling direct insults at opponents of her husband in the 2015 elections as if there was something personal linking them all.
Indeed, running for the presidency may be very personal for those who feel entitled to what is at stake but things need not degenerate to the level of launching frontal attacks and insults at the person of political opponents. Many times, I have viewed some of the highly irresponsible statements attributed to many office holders as outcome of ordinary human failings that should be treated with sympathy. We are all prone to such, and there is no point beyond a need to massage the ego to hold long censorious sermons on the apparent failings of others in this regard.
But where such persons repeatedly or even, wilfully, insist on walking down the road of misdemeanour as Mrs. Jonathan continues to do, then we must ask ourselves if Nigerians must continue to tolerate such behaviour.
Of course, there may be seemingly little they can do in practical terms to make Mrs. Jonathan accountable for her obviously thoughtless ways, but they should do even that little within their power in spite of what looks like a conscious attempt to thwart their will by refusing to give her their support in the election she has been employing as an excuse to overreach herself.
Beyond all of this however, Mrs. Jonathan must acknowledge the right of Nigerians, especially women, to feel a sense of shame on her behalf for the manner she has been conducting herself of late. For not only has she been misrepresenting them, she has been going beyond the bounds of decency in the manner that should and is, indeed, making us all wonder what we did in this country to deserve women of high visibility like her.
Their major contribution to their husbands’ public profile is the number of enemies they are able to cultivate. President Jonathan’s wife, Patience, urgently needs to be restrained by her husband before she drives us all down the slope of international ignominy. Nobody among those close to her can do this but her husband. Which makes it all the more difficult because she obviously has a stronger personality than him or he would have acted in more appropriate ways before now.
In this matter, it is better to be late than never. Or the situation would be worse than we have presently. There are a few things Mrs. Jonathan needs to imbibe as she goes around campaigning for her husband. First, she has to behave in a way that should make Nigerians feel that she cares more about the survival of this country than she does about retaining her room in Aso Villa. Second, she needs to know that whatever her ambitions are(and they seem to dwarf those of her husband), they can only be relevant for as long as Nigeria survives and she is able to live in peace thereafter, in or out or power.
In this wise, she may need to take a few lessons from Simone Gbagbo, wife of Laurent Gbagbo, former Ivorian president now facing criminal charges at the International Criminal Court. A lot of what brought Gbagbo to his sad end happened under the direct watch of his wife who was accused of complicity in post election violence in Ivory Coast in 2011.
Thousands of their country people died in the violence that engulfed that country after Laurent Gbagbo refused to handover after he was defeated by Alassane Quattara in the 2010 elections. Simone Gbagbo, recently handed 20 years in jail, was accused of operating the killer squads that went after many of her husband’s opponents in that year’s election.
Laurent and Simone Gbagbo’s story share a number of parallels with the ongoing situation unfolding in Nigeria. Like the Gbabos the Jonathans have been loath to face the coming elections until such time as they feel ready. They and their supporters have been making all kinds of excuses as to why the elections must be postponed or cancelled.
Mrs. Jonathan, taking the cue from her husband when he launched his campaign in Lagos, has been launching personal insults at her husband’s opponents. She has called the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress all kinds of names including calling him ‘brain dead’. Perhaps the worst is her open call for violence when she called on her supporters to stone persons shouting the opposition party slogan calling for change. Can Mrs. Patience Jonathan face the consequences of this call? Or would she learn what she can now from the life of Simone Gbagbo?
VANGUARD
END
Be the first to comment