Since 1957, when Nigerian Delegates sat to deliberate at the 1957 Constitutional Conference, there has always been the presence of women. Although Nigerian Politics have been dominated by men, women have somehow found ways to perform “office” functions. The concept of having a First Lady in Nigeria could be rightly traced to the period of Lady Flora Lugard, the wife of Lord Frederick Lugard, first colonial Governor-General of Nigeria (the man, who in 1914 unified the northern and southern protectorate of Nigeria into one country). It is to her credit that the country got her name, Nigeria.
With her 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 774 local government areas, Nigeria is believed to have over 800 women who enjoy this position of eminence as 'first among equals'.
Although there is no constitutional provision for the office of the first lady, material and personnel resources of the state are usually deployed to service it with impunity.
At Nigeria's independence, Mrs. Flora Azikiwe was known as Nigeria's First Lady and she frequently attended state functions with her husband. After her were a few First Ladies that are prominent despite the relative short time they spent in “office” (State house). One of them is Victoria Aguyi-Ironsi. Although, the succeeding government’s First Lady, Victoria Gowon, stayed in the State House for only eight years, her presence was equally felt in several public appearances.
When democracy returned in 1999, Stella Obasanjo, the First Lady of Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo transformed the public view of her “office”. She began her shine, when she started several activism campaigns for release of her husband after he was imprisoned in 1995 for taking part in a coup to overthrow the government. Her activities spurred females to be strong and independent, and as such gathered wide support.
She once commented that even though her husband had made a commitment to improving living conditions in Nigeria, "things will continue to deteriorate in the country unless more women were allowed to participate in governance.” Considering, the impacts many of these “First Ladies”, it might be easy to assume that at least one political office holder is concerned about the welfare of the masses. If the Politicians don’t care, and their wives show half as much as is required, then fine.
But rights groups and journalists have continuously rejected this notions.
The All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate for 2015 in the forthcoming general election, General Mohammed Buhari has promised toshut down the office of the first lady describing it as illegal or unconstitutional, he noted that his wife will act as one who provides moral support for the government as a mother to all Nigerians without necessarily wearing the garb as a first lady or live a flamboyant lifestyle that first ladies are known for in Nigeria. The big question is whether or not Buhari can make good his promise to curtail the excesses of first ladies?
In the past, some first ladies wielded some powers and lived a larger than life lifestyle using tax payers’ money without accountability. Also notable is the antics of some first ladies to command and control some political powers by endorsing political candidates for election which usually will not allow for a level playing ground among contestants. These has degenerated a lot of crisis and interparty brouhaha.
In fact the latest trend is for first ladies to want to combine their unconstitutional role with elective offices or control the apparatus of political parties. A point in case, is that of the first lady of Kogi State Mrs. Farida Ijeoma Wada, the wife of the current governor of Kogi State who tried to use the position of her husband as a seating governor to grab a seat at the Federal house of representative in Abia state where she hails from under the People Democratic Party.
She tried everything within her power to grab the ticket of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Ikwuano Umuahia Federal consitutency at the House Representative. Even when it was obvious that she could not win the primary election as she was not popular, she refused to step down like some other contestant and she was floored at the polls.
The big question therefore is, when and who will interpret the constitution to our politicians that there is no constitutional rule for the office for the first lady office but an aberration, a misuse of power and a waste of tax payment, the earlier this is resolved the better for the country as it will save the country several millions of Naira been allocated to the unconstitutional office which can now be redirected to more useful ventures that will benefit the citizenry and also help to make politics less attractive to politicians.
Although, some of these initiatives of these first ladies like the Women for change initiative of the current First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has contributed to giving the women a voice. What seems to define the image of the office of the first lady are the excesses of some of its occupants.
It remains to be seen whether Buhari’s pledge to scrap the office would achieve positive strides for the womenfolk.