'Lady Macbeth and the Okirika Mayhem' - Uzor Ngoladi

Goodluck Jonathan’s regime is riddled with undue spousal interference that constantly irritates the political space. Can the First Lady concentrate on the domestic aspect of the president’s wellbeing and focus more on championing the plight of women and children in our society? Her incursion into mainstream politicking has renewed the call for orientation programs for spouses of political office holders. She must understand in clear terms, her restrictions at every point in time.

Sir Denis Thatcher, the husband of Britain’s first and only female Prime Minister was known to be a pillar of support without bringing Margareth Thatcher to ridicule by his utterances or action. He allowed his wife to concentrate on administrative duties and rarely made public speeches nor granted interviews to the media. Despite the fact that he financed her training as a barrister, Dennis often referred to his spouse as ‘The Boss’. Dennis Thatcher was an accomplished business mogul by the time he married the former British leader, yet he understood his space and occupied it efficiently without constituting a distraction to state matters during his wife’s tenure that lasted for eleven years. That is spousal support per excellence!

The National Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh is being economical with the truth. Discerning Nigerians cannot be deceived into believing his recent submissions on national television. How can he describe the Okirika debacle as a smear campaign on the First Lady? The disruption of APC governorship rally at Okirika, the bomb explosion and gun shots of Okirika, the entire impunity of Okirika is a reflection of Lady Macbeth’s quest for power and blind loyalty. Nigerians are not daft. This is not the first time that Mama Peace has humiliated a serving governor in her home State, causing chaos in its trail. Okirika being the home local government area of Patience Jonathan is an expected haven of political hoodlums who will bend 360 degrees to satisfy the whims of a power drunk First Lady.

Mama Peace has broken the fragile peace that hitherto existed in the South-South geo political zone by encouraging reckless display of power and political gangsterism. Her past and present activities have been geared towards stifling any contrary opinion especially from perceived enemies. Spouses of political office holders must therefore be trained and enlightened as regards their limits and boundaries. They must be groomed in the aspect of public appearances and speeches. The present First Lady has gone down in history as an embarrassment to Nigerians and the international community because of repeated misconducts.

Who can stop Mama Peace from further injuring the reputation of women of the Nigerian nation she claims to champion? Who can call Patience to order and discourage her from making mediocre and illiterate public speeches that generate scorn and disappointment from the populace? A compilation of her infamous phrases and adulterated English in the last four years has constituted a greater part of Jonathan’s Achilles Heels.

Mama Peace must allow Jonathan to complete his tenure without further interference and derision. Support for spouse is markedly different from unnecessary public nuisance and impediments to democratic governance. Her focusing on the domestic wellbeing of Mr. President will greatly contribute to nation building than her incessant counterproductive squabbles with elected or appointed leaders. The Okirika violence is a tip of the iceberg of how the general election proper will pan out in Rivers State. For peace to reign once again in the Niger Delta, Mama Peace must give up on undue interference and desist from misrepresenting our women. The office of the First Lady is unconstitutional and should not be magnified high and above an elected office.

The Shakespearean Lady Macbeth called the shots in the closet of King Macbeth’s domain and destroyed her spouse via inordinate ambition. Our modern day Lady Macbeth must not overtly overbear on State affairs.

The electorate patiently waited on this lame presidency that has generated more excuses than efforts or result to rise to the occasion by condemning the Okirika violence and also calling the perpetrators to order. As they say, no election is worth the blood of any Nigerian. A level playing field must always be provided for all political parties to canvass for votes. Nigeria belongs to us all.