The Other Side of Patience Jonathan

Comfort Obi

By Comfort Obi
I am not the spokesperson of First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan. And I do not claim to be her very close friend. Since her husband, Goodluck Jonathan, became the President, she has been saddled with more women who claim to be her close friends than she bargained for. They claim so many things in her name. Many of them are name droppers. That is the way of the world. Failure and poverty have no friend, or relation. Success has both. I should know. I have tasted both. Even those who had no good word to say about her, during her days as the vice president’s wife, are now grovelling "close friends."
Having made my position clear, I can safely claim that I am an acquaintance of the First Lady, especially, given the nature of my job. Therefore, I can also safely claim to know a little of her mannerism, and temperament. Mrs. Jonathan is a woman like every other woman. Like everybody else, she is neither a saint, nor infallible. She is given to mistakes. And does not detest good reason or even correction.
Given the above, I am shocked by the very harsh criticisms – some of them bothering on the ridiculous – and outright lies targeted at her since the incident between her and the governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, during her two-day visit to the state to launch the Women for Change Initiative, W4CI. I have read and re-read what she said, and the circumstances too. I describe them in one word: Unnecessary. It is an incident which has been blown out of proportion, and spiced up. Amaechi must have been taken aback. And going through the comments in the media, he must have felt stupid. Which, perhaps, explains why he fired the chairman of Okirika LGA, who, allegedly, is Mrs. Jonathan’s first cousin.The incident is public knowledge. But for this write-up, a brief re-cap.
As part of her activities to launch the W4C1, Mrs. Jonathan, an indigene of Okirika, Rivers state, was taken to the site of a model school Amaechi is building. One of Amaechi's greatest achievements is the model schools. They compete favourably with public schools abroad. Modern classrooms, hostels, computerised, air conditioned classrooms, modern furniture, large play ground, conducive environment for learning. Most of his colleagues, whose pupils still study in dillapilated classrooms, and under trees, should take note.
Rightly, Amaechi likes to show off the schools. And there was no better person to show them off to, especially, the one being built in Okirika, than the First Lady who has a passion for women and children. As he did that, an impressed Mrs. Jonathan was attentive. When he talked about the obstacles he is encountering in delivering in Okirika, she took note. In Okirika, land is a problem. They have little. And the natives hold firm to it. But to build the school, land is needed. To do that, he has to knock down residential houses. His government would pay compensation. But will it wait for the people to acquire new land, build new houses, before knocking their houses down? Or will the people become refugees first? These were issues which worried Mrs Jonathan. When it was her turn to speak, she pointed those out. She told the governor that the only way to convince the people was by pleading and dialoguing with them since they will not go on exile. She advised him not to use the word, must. That rankles. And it must have rankled the governor. The only way to explain this is that Mrs Jonathan took the governor for granted. She felt that being a daughter of the soil, she could freely (publicly) talk to the governor as sister to brother, as mother to son. In another State, she probably wouldn’t have bothered with the hinderances the governor was having, or the feelings of the people. She felt she was talking to her brother, her son, and was home. Her advice to the governor cannot be faulted. Except that it was undiplomatic. She shouldn't have given it publicly. What was wrong in privately advising the governor? That would have had a better effect, and without the unnecessary controversy, politicisation, and the bad press. But that is Mrs. Jonathan for you. She can be unbelievably blunt. What she will not say before you, she will not say behind you. Since the incident I have read all kinds of versions. That she shouted at the governor; that she snatched the microphone from the governor; that she was wagging her fingers at the governor. Not true. That is not Mrs Jonathan.
The Mrs Jonathan I know is humble and unassuming in public. She is sweet, and a good mixer.She would go out of her way to publicly embrace, and acknowledge her friends. She would publicly say she is lucky to have one as a friend, instead of the other way round. The Mrs Jonathan I know is a compassionate woman who cares about women, children, and the under-privileged. The Mrs Jonathan I know cares about her husband, her family, her in- laws, especially her motherin-law. Like any other good wife, she cares about what her husband eats, and provides a conducive environment for him. The Mrs Jonathan I know is not the devil being painted in the media. One story had it that she stops female Ministers from seeing her husband, walks them out, and calls them names. This allegation is cruel, and a lie from the pit of hell. The Source once did a-not-too flattering cover story on her. But the Mrs Jonathan I know is the one who insists her family prays together every morning. She is the one who, for years, wakes up some mornings, and goes to clean, and dust churches. She wakes up atimes, and on her own, without any publicity, visits orphanages to bath, and feed the babies there. The Mrs Jonathan I know is the one who has her fears, and self-doubts, like every other woman. She crys like every other woman. And like every other woman, talks about her home, and her worries. She talks about her weight like every other woman, and her phobia for an exercise instructor. Like every other woman, she has her close circle of friends with whom she discusses “woman things.” Problem is, given her position now, she has, not to her knowledge, become “close friend” to all comers, and name-droppers.
Back to the Okirika incident. Amaechi feels embarrassed. But two wrongs don't make a right. Firing the LGA chairman is like killing a fly with a sledge- hammer. And worsens the situation. Finally, I have an advice for the vultures who are feeding on this incident, and fanning the ember of hatred. They should keep off. Mrs Jonathan and Governor Amaechi are sister and brother. They are mother and son. And this unfortunate incident will pass away– sooner than they think.