Is Jonathan’s wife also first lady?

So, Reuben Abati, President Jones’ official mouthpiece, has found his voice. He has been working behind the scenes while his boss runs roughshod over the political landscape like a canine unleashed on rioters. Now that Abati has found his voice finally, he wants a debate. Any wary observer would want to know what has happened […]

So, Reuben Abati, President Jones’ official mouthpiece, has found his voice. He has been working behind the scenes while his boss runs roughshod over the political landscape like a canine unleashed on rioters. Now that Abati has found his voice finally, he wants a debate. Any wary observer would want to know what has happened in the presidency to warrant a volte face from the 2011-era when his principal, like a Grade D student, would only debate if he had advanced copy of the questions to be asked.
Has President Jones graduated honours from the Abati School of oratory or has the government performed so well that it is now ready to give account of itself? The answer is none of the above. Just as the Port Harcourt Degrees of some people are being called into question, the composition of any panel that is comfortable to the presidency should be suspect to any curious observer. Who is likely to make the panel of interviewers – those who are called in to massage the ego of failure or the makers of the damaging documentaries aired on AIT and NTA? In normal climes, the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC would have called the two stations to order on these broadcasts, but NBC as an organ of government meant to safeguard us from verbal and visual assault is caught napping.
One shudders to imagine what the Abati who was Chairman of the Guardian newspaper group would have written about the political shenanigans of his bosses in office. It is incredible how the aphrodisiac of power gradually corrodes the moral fabric of people in the corridors of power. In Abati’s Yoruba land, the adage is – Oyinbo muti, oti npa kuku – the colonial overlord takes the alcohol but it’s the cook that is inebriated.
NTA and AIT are not the only media organisations that have compromised the basic tenets of fairness in journalism, the papers that published the odious advertisements from Digbolugi Ayo Fayose are as guilty. The Nigerian Press Council, like the NBC sees nothing wrong. UK’s OFCOM now wants NTA signals yanked off their airwaves. This may look like a small price to pay for the success of a failed government at the polls, its effects are however very deep. It means that our hardworking colleagues in that station may not get the needed training that would propel them to higher heights in the global media industry. It may also mean not getting the needed equipment for seamless transmission.
It is not just the media that has taken a hit. The military, a nation’s last bastion has taken more than a hit, so much so that it now rents crowds to protest at supposed ‘opposition’ media houses. While every citizen worth his passport applauds the supreme sacrifice that our soldiers pay to keep us one, not many would forget how its current leadership lied over the Chibok kidnap, or how it shamelessly explained tactical manoeuvring of its badly kitted troops in battle. If a vote of confidence were held in the army of its top hierarchy, they would score so low, even committing hara-kiri would not wash away their shame. Little wonder nations with weapons have shied away from selling to us leaving us to order de-commissioned arms in the fight against terror.
When the army allowed itself to be drawn into politics in the infamous Buhari certificate saga, it may have thought it was denigrating a presidential aspirant – no. In fact, it has denigrated a revered institution. The military works by gaining access to training and facilities outside its immediate sphere of influence – tell me which military institution wants to work with an army that openly admits that an ‘illiterate’ became a general and head of state in its army. The military may have ridiculed Buhari as it set out to do, but it has denigrated a hallowed institution in the eyes of peers across the globe.
The office of the first lady may not be gazetted by the constitution, it is a lofty one. The criterion is being married to the president and every woman covets that position. From Victoria Gowon, it has been hallowed. However, King Nebu’s sheppopotamus has denigrated it so much Buhari has promised not to give it serious attention if elected. The pronouncements from President Jones’ wife are anything but dainty. From wresting microphones from elected officials to verbally mobilising lynch-mobs against opposition – this first wife, to quote Soyinka knows nothing about being a lady.