First ladies’ unique encounters at Obudu resort

The nation’s First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, led wives of state governors, their deputies and the FCT minister to a four-day retreat at the resort, to be tutored on issues of protocol, etiquette, administration and public communication.   The retreat, no doubt, afforded the spouses of the nation’s chief executives the opportunity to learn new […]

The nation’s First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, led wives of state governors, their deputies and the FCT minister to a four-day retreat at the resort, to be tutored on issues of protocol, etiquette, administration and public communication.

 

The retreat, no doubt, afforded the spouses of the nation’s chief executives the opportunity to learn new skills, to perform better as pillars of support to their spouses.

“The sessions were highly interactive, eye-opening and sometimes hilarious,” remarked a first lady from one of the states in the north.

As is usual with such high-profile events, the resort became a gog with activities, as the retinue of executive aides grappled with one thing or the other to make their bosses’ stay very comfortable.

But beyond all the protocols, officialdom and their labyrinths of complexities, an experience of a unique kind was not lost on the minds of the august guests – their awesome ride in the resort’s VIP cable cars to the mountain top venue.

Reactions were mixed for the ladies, as their VIP cable cars traveled distances at frightening heights, which overlooked the amazing wonder of the Obudu mountain range.

As most riders admitted, the ride provoked initial interests and curiosity, which soon afterwards transformed into anxiety, apprehensions and the fear of the unknown, as the cars rolled on cables over the mountain tops, which, during certain weather conditions in the year, are normally enmeshed in the clouds.

For any tourist to get to the top of the holiday resort, he or she either drives through the snaky, windy and rising 15 kilometres of tarred road in a space of 55 minutes or rides in a cable car across the mountainous terrain in approximately 20 minutes.

Out of curiosity and adventure, however, some guests choose the cable car option, in order to fully savour the thrills and excitement of gliding over the rough, frightening but alluring topography of the sprawling mountain range.

On a first ride though, curiosity, fear and anxiety often overwhelm a rider, as most first-timers admitted.

That perhaps, explained why an officer of one of the uniformed services, kept offering his place on the queue for the cable car ride to others behind him, in what was clearly beyond a mere gesture of goodwill.

A third such unsolicited gesture by the uniformed officer prompted a reporter to engage him in a friendly chat.

“Why do you keep giving up your place on the queue to others behind you?” the female reporter asked him.

“Ah! Aunty”, he exclaimed, “I’m buying time till it’s too late for me to go up. I am scared of the cars and the heights!”

“But why?’’ the reporter sought to know.

“My major worry is that I have noticed that the cable car has no driver but just the passengers, who go on board and then the door closes. Secondly, what if that car gets stuck midway up as it is being run on generator; what next?

“Again, if a disaster strikes and that `thing’ crashes, rescue personnel won’t find the bones of passengers down below you know!”

Other prospective riders, who shared in the officer’s fright, nodded their heads in agreement, especially as they had never travelled in such a facility that is rare in this part of the world.

Nevertheless, many vehicles on the first ladies’ convoys had parked at the base of the Obudu hills, apparently to reduce the volume of traffic on the snaky road, so as to minimize any prospects of accidents.

Mrs Jonathan, who stayed back patiently to encourage all the other first ladies to undertake the cable ride to the mountain top venue of the retreat, herself came up last.

Amidst the obvious scare in some of the first ladies, the resort’s official repeatedly assured them that the rides were very safe.

In fact, a first lady from one of the south eastern states was still scared stiff, even after disembarking at the mountain top.

She shook her head vigorously as she disembarked, as if saying — “never again!”

Responding to a reporter’s question, she quipped: “This is my first time on the range, though I have heard a lot about the resort. Nothing prepared me for this cable car experience.

“I will definitely not try it again; my heart was in my mouth and the 20 minutes of the trip felt like two hours. You know, it jerks intermittently, ha! Such moments felt terrifying’’.

Her experience was not isolated as many other dignitaries also appeared fidgety during their rides,

Taraba’s First Lady, Hajia Hauwa Danbaba-Suntai, was however another exception, aside from Dame Patience. She looked very composed all through her ride and stepped out majestically at the mountain top end of the ride.

Asked about the source of her confidence as she disembarked, she responded: “No! I was not scared at all. I have been here with my family before. I remember on that occasion the cable car got stuck; it stopped moving midway and to me, it looked like eternity before the fault was rectified and it started moving again.

“At that moment, I had looked at my children and looked down below and panicked. I was really, really scared then but thank God we passed through that ordeal.

“Today, I wasn’t as scared as the last time and the ride was pleasant; it’s not bad at all and I can assure you that Obudu is a pleasant destination of choice.”

But for Dame Patience, however, her comportment showed that she was impervious to any form of fear or anxiety as she took the last turn to ride in the cable car to the mountain top venue of the retreat.

Alighting from the cable car at the mountain top station, Mrs Jonathan looked calm, refreshed and unruffled as if it was all in her day’s routine to ride that high over the mountain range.

How really safe are the cable cars, a reporter asked Mr Ivan Goering, Manager of the firm that runs the cable car service.

“The cable cars are very secure. Each holds eight passengers conveniently at a time and runs on a motor controlled by the driver, who is in the control room.

“The mountain range is high but the cable lines are far higher and strong and we only operate when the weather is clear.

“Our company manufactures more than 200 cable cars yearly for more than 20 countries worldwide. We have several years of experience and we are like the ‘Mercedes Benz’ of cable cars.”

“The area has no electricity and so the cars are run on generators for now. There is also a hybrid generator used as back-up in case anyone in use fails to bring people to safety,” Mr Goering said.

As was observed by most riders, once the car got to one end of its destination, it never stops completely on the platform before the riders disembark.

“This kind of disembarking reminds me of the popular ‘molue’ in Lagos,” joked a co-tourist on the ride.

While some of the distinguished guests admitted in private quarters that the scenic beauty of the mountainous range was a marvel to behold, they, however, added that the scary heights did not afford them the luxury to appreciate the splendor and wonder of nature, exuded by mountain’s luxuriant vegetation.

Beyond the frightening experience of the cable car ride, the retreat was indeed a most rewarding experience for all participants that is bound to be long-lasting.

The novel first ladies’ retreat, organized at the instance of Mrs Jonathan, was heralded by a cocktail party on June 18, when the participants were sensitized on expectations at the event.

At the various sessions, resource persons took turns to deliver lectures on a variety of subjects related to the roles of first ladies.

For instance, a lecture entitled “Stress Management” was delivered by Dr Hope Bell-Gam, a senior lecturer with the University of Port Harcourt,while another — “Image is Everything: Function of the Media”, was given by Mrs Oluremi Oyo,  a veteran journalist and the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The lectures — “Table Setting”, “Speech Clinic” and “Etiquette at its Best” were given by Mrs Sonye Allanah, an Etiquette/Image Consultant with Consima  Protocol & Finishing School, Abuja.

Throughout the sessions, the participants displayed immense enthusiasm, sitting for hours at a stretch sometimes.

It was also remarkable that practical lessons were taken on the third day in relation to etiquette and public communication.

Mrs Jonathan led the ladies in one such outing to a village to talk to the people on the benefits of embracing farming.

Notwithstanding the downpour and cold weather on that day, the first ladies slipped into their rain boots, donned hats and went under umbrellas to the farms, with girlish chuckles and hand-holding.

Soiled with farm mud, Mrs Jonathan and the other ladies interacted with the villagers, hugging and talking to them on the value of going back to the farms.

At other times during the sessions, the first ladies were taught how to organize befitting state banquets, how to become perfect hostesses and how to run pet projects and voluntary organizations.

Events climaxed on the fourth day during the gala nite, where all the first ladies turned up in radiant and flashy attires, in what may have gone down as the first real test of the lessons learnt at the retreat.

In the thoroughly relaxed atmosphere of the gala nite, far removed from the flurry of activities at government houses, the ladies treated themselves to sumptuous dishes and other forms of entertainment.

In what appeared to be a parting shot at the first ladies, Mrs Jonathan tasked them to imbibe all lessons learnt, so as to effectively complement their husband’s roles at all times.

She also told the ladies that they were free to be addressed as first ladies, though with a caveat.

“You are free to answer to first ladies if you wish. Whether you are a local government chairman’s wife or in your husband’s house, you are all first ladies; so you are free to use the title as you wish.

“However, you must bear in mind, like we have been taught, that when you visit any country, there will always be one First Lady, who is the wife of the president of that country,’’ she said.

Thankfully, the inclement weather on the departure day prevented any repeat of the car cable ride back to the foothills where most cars were parked and to some extent, this was of enormous relief to many first ladies.

“The sessions were really educative as we now know how to do certain things better for our own good, the good of our husbands and the state,” said oen of the first ladies.

For the numerous inhabitants of the communities at the base of the Obudu Mountains, the first ladies’ visit definitely evoked memories that will remain with them for a very long time.

“This is the first time I will be witnessing such visit by an array of dignitaries of this caliber to Obudu,” intoned one villager.

Other villagers and staff of the resort shared similar sentiments, wishing that such an awesome experience recurred often, to make them feel the aura of governance at close range.

For the first ladies, no doubt, the Obudu retreat was indeed a refreshing and rewarding experience too. (NANFeatures)