By SaharaReporters, New York

Economic and business activities were grounded in Abuja for most part of this morning and afternoon as First Lady Patience Jonathan gathered wives of governors, women groups and other guests for the launch of her NGO, Women For Change Initiative. The event took place at Eagle Square in the capital city.

In an obvious reaction to the Independence Day bomb blasts, the Nigeria Police moved last night to block all areas and junctions adjoining the venue of the event. But the panicky approach to security was taken to a ridiculous level this morning as major roads and junctions into the Central Business District area of the city were also blocked by security agents. This resulted in a massive traffic gridlock that some residents of Abuja declared as unprecedented.

“I have lived and worked in Abuja for twelve years, and have never seen this kind of traffic hell,” said a leader of a civil organization. He queried: “How can this woman talk about change initiative when she’s undermining people’s ability to move about freely and do business in the nation’s capital?”

The snarled traffic also led to another round of rumors that a bomb planted by MEND in Abuja would explode by 3 p.m. Shaken by the dire speculations, many taxi and bus operators parked their vehicles, forcing commuters to walk several kilometers to their destinations and majority of residents staying indoors.

Our correspondent noted that the ever-busy Federal Secretariat, which directly abuts the Eagle Square, was virtually deserted. Our correspondent could not ascertain if security operatives had ordered civil servants to keep off work as a result of the First Lady's event or whether the workers were unable to get to their offices because of the traffic mess.

Police officers were seen patrolling the city in their SUVs, while those assigned the function of controlling the traffic were overwhelmed by the traffic situation.

Numerous critics have alleged that the First Lady is using the NGO to mobilize women groups across the country for her husband’s ambition to be elected president in the 2011 elections.

Today’s event is the second time in two weeks that Mrs. Jonathan has caused untold hardship to residents of Abuja with the activities of her so-called NGO. Last month, three people died and many were injured when Mrs. Jonathan’s NGO distributed bags of rice to Abuja residents. The casualties were either trampled upon or collapsed as they struggled to get their hands on the bags of rice imported from Brazil. The rice distribution took many residents by surprise as security agents who were supposed to oversee the distribution openly carted away bags of rice for themselves whilst using whips and batons to assault those scrambling for the rice.

“Mrs. Jonathan should focus on encouraging her husband to govern well. It’s no business of a first lady to distribute rice,” said an Abuja-based lawyer. He added that the rice fiasco and today’s traffic woes “are condescending acts that also represent the dehumanization of Nigerians. If President Jonathan and other Nigerian leaders do their jobs well, then Nigerians will be able to feed and care for themselves. Instead, their bad leadership reduces Nigerians to paupers who depend on hand-outs from the first lady and others who mismanage the country.”



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