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Dame Patience Jonathan: An Original Nigerian Political Godmother. - Politics - Nairaland

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Dame Patience Jonathan: An Original Nigerian Political Godmother. by dapachez: 6:22pm On Apr 02, 2011
Dame Patience Jonathan is the wife of the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. According to reports she obtained the National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Mathematics/Biology in 1989 from the Rivers State College of Education and a Bachelor of Education in Biology and Psychology from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Despite these lofty academic attainments, many Nigerians are deeply worried about the First Lady’s command of the English language. According to DEM of the Nigerian Village Square, regarding the First Lady’s English language challenge, “It is grammar, tenses, wrong word choices and word misapplication. As a graduate of anything (except perhaps Sudanese studies), that's a terrible indictment.” The platoon of concerned Nigerians who are seriously disturbed with the grammar delivery of the First Lady, are actually constructive critics who mean well for Nigeria and specifically the First Lady. Thank God, the First lady’s problem can be fixed. Now, the President should find the right experts to help fix the problem.

Many of the errors attributed to the First Lady are actually exaggerations and or falsifications contrived by fun seeking folks. Many have suggested that the First Lady stop speaking in public, until she sufficiently steps up her game in the grammar department. Oh well, I disagree with that viewpoint. A woman who speaks better English than 70 percent of Nigerians should not restrain herself from speaking in public. Truth be told, the percentage of the First Lady’s real and actual faux pax in the English grammar department, should be in the region of 7% of what mischievous folks treacherously attribute to her. Again, we must distinguish native dialect corrupted pronunciation in contradistinction to actual grammatical indiscretion. Now, we are talking about Nigeria’s First Lady in an election year and in an election, wherein her husband is the incumbent candidate. A careful observation will reveal that that her constituency understands her. She communicates effectively with the rural and inner township Nigerian women. Nigerian women appreciate her courage, confidence and leadership prowess. They have accepted her as their role model. She has effectively connected with our sisters, mothers and wives back in Nigeria's creeks and hinterlands. In fact to the oppressed, disadvantaged, indigent, under-privileged and un-influential rural Nigerian woman, First lady Dame Patience Jonathan is a political and social phenomenon. Thus, not too good or bad grammar has not been able to diminish the relevance of the First Lady’s presence and activities in the lives of the downtrodden and forgotten Nigerian woman.

A very close observation of Dame Patience Jonathan’s public outings and political cum social relationship with the everyday Nigerian womenfolk would reveal a very pertinent observation. The First lady has forged a special emotional bond with the poor and down trodden Nigerian woman. We have had several First ladies in the past. This very First lady is the rural, uneducated and half educated woman’s first lady. Yes, the First lady has a Bachelor’s degree in Education. Somehow she has managed to keep her “masses English”. While the Nigerian elite have serious reservations with her “management” of the English language, her audience all over the country, which usually comprises of the rural, downtrodden and unconnected market women and peasant female farmers, see her and accept her as their own very first lady. What the elite find troubling about her, is what endears her to the real Nigerian woman.

In the past, the occupants of Aso Rock have always managed to present a First lady that exhibits a glaring disconnect with the average long suffering Nigerian peasant woman. Well, not this first lady. Dame Patience Jonathan is an embodiment of courage, self confidence and leadership audacity. Think about it, the every day Nigerian peasant and downtrodden woman that she speaks their English, constitute about 70 percent of the Nigerian women folk. The elite and very well educated constitute the minority in Nigeria. Thus for a woman who is married to a politician and an incumbent contestant, she is in the perfect company with the majority of the Nigerian womenfolk.

Dame Patience Jonathan has some qualities that resonate with the real Nigerian woman. For too long, the Nigerian woman has been relegated, forgotten and oppressed. She has been made to feel that women are inferior to men. Over 95 percent of Nigeria’s elected, selected and appointed political officers are men. When a woman delivers a baby girl, it is with subdued disappointment that the baby is received. It is almost a sad, shameful and unforgivable act, to be born a baby girl in virtually every Nigerian community. Nigerian women have been cultured by the social b.a.s.t.a.r.d.i.z.a.t.i.o.n , congenitally inherent in the cultures of every Nigerian community to live with self esteem quandary, human dignity quagmire and societal acceptance predicament. Enter Dame Patience Jonathan exuding the confidence, courage, bravado and audacity that were the exclusive preserve of the men in authority. The fact that she is resident in Aso Rock and her dear husband is the executive President of Nigeria should ordinarily create a wall between the Dame and the rural, illiterate and poor Nigerian woman. Well, not this Patience. This Patience is the Dame. Oh well, all that was needed to thaw the hitherto frosty relationship between Nigeria’s First Ladies and the real Nigerian oppressed, forgotten, poor and downtrodden peasant women, was just to hear the Dame speak. When the Dame mounts the rostrum and suddenly the rural, inner township and oppressed poor women begin to hear her talk to them in their own very “farm and Market place English”. Then it hit them very hard in a way they can never forget that this First lady is their own First lady. This First lady is the quintessential Nigerian woman’s representative in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s highest seat of power.

There is something about the Dame’s confidence, courage and audacious courage that had endeared her to the downtrodden Nigerian female constituency. She exemplifies what they dream to be. The Dame is living the dream of the poor, oppressed and forgotten Nigerian woman. She speaks their English. Though she acquired a university degree, she has remained rooted to her rural roots. This strong attachment to her roots and environmental foundation is easily manifested when she begins to express herself to her audience. The rural, uneducated and half educated Nigerian woman cannot believe that one of their own is now Nigeria’s Queen. Suddenly Dame-mania has resurrected in the poor, un-influential, oppressed and abused Nigerian woman, a fresh belief in herself, her abilities, capabilities, potentials and hopes. The Dame has become the unofficial representative of the Nigerian woman in the government. Yes, she is not officially in the government; however, she is just in the government anyway. Remind one of the Bumble Bee. According to the laws of aero-dynamics a Bumble should not be able to fly. However, because the Bumble is blind, the Bee just flies anyway. Dame Patience Jonathan is evidently not aware that she is not a part of the government. Her huge army of rural and inner township female followers, see her as their role model and representative in the Jonathan administration. Trust your dear sister, the Dame. She is effectively in the government anyway and representing her constituency.

Yes, Dame Patience Jonathan has now successfully metamorphosed into a political godmother. In fact she has become the quintessential poster girl of the notion of Mafia godfather as popularized by the Mario Puzo fictional creation 'The Godfather', based on real life Sicilian mafia life style, of Italian crime families and the daily activities of the family head known as the Capo di Tutti Capi - Boss of all Bosses. Dame Patience Jonathan derived this clout, aura and political status as a result of her political activities vis a vis the Nigerian women folk and regarding her political activities in pursuit of her husband’s electioneering campaign activities. If we are to have a proper understanding of the godmother Dame Patience Jonathan mystery, we must first attempt to unravel and understand the phenomenon called political godfather. Political godfathers are the top level political stalwarts and financial pillars, the masses can identify with, when they figure, that the government(s) of the day is not communicating with them, politically, economically and socially. While the majority of the Nigerian downtrodden and impoverished women see the regular Goodluck Jonathan administration as too remote and too bureaucratic, they see the Dame as their “the biblical Esther or Hadassah” in Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and indeed in the Nigerian Federal Government. While the regular government folks and indeed, previous First Ladies, speak the economic, political and social language of the elites, Dame Patience Jonathan has emerged as the consolation of the very day Nigerian oppressed, downtrodden, impoverished and forgotten woman. Thus, where the masses deemed the regular governments as having failed woefully to create an enabling environment, whereby the masses could thrive and prosper. The political godfather is looked upon to provide some measure of individual long term and short term relief(s). This is the theory and the story that serves as the intellectual predicate for Dame Patience Jonathan’s distribution of rice in Abuja, and the distribution of huge sums of money to female political aspirants in the 2011 general elections. Thus the Dame Patience Jonathan has emerged as the poor and peasant woman’s friend in government. She has emerged and positioned herself as the point woman in Aso Rock that the PDP female leaders, rank and file female party members and the huge army of female Nigerian voters can identify with. She has become the poor and disadvantaged female party members and female voters, representative in government or so they believe. The perspective of this writer is not to debate the propriety, moral and ethical justification that predicates the First Lady’s mass distribution activities. The perspective of this writer is merely to establish that the First Lady has reconfigured the political firmament and has now established herself as a political godmother.

The following reports reproduced from the online editions of some Nigerian newspapers helps to substantiate the fact that the First Lady has since become a part of the Nigerian Federal Government or has established an alternative government of sorts; which would effectively make her a political godmother.

On Friday, 22nd October 2010, the Daily Trust, a Nigerian newspaper, in a report by Safiya E. Dantiye, reported on it’s online edition: “Few days to October 1, the day Nigeria celebrated its 50th independence anniversary, the First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, distributed close to two million bags of rice at the International Conference Centre, Abuja as one of the activities to mark the event……. if the government wants to give food to people, it should target the real indigent ones in their communities and institutions that cater for them, like orphanages, widows, lepers’ in colonies and so on………But to the chagrin of Nigerians, the wives of senators and members of House of Representatives were among the beneficiaries of the rice, given on what basis, we don’t know, but certainly not because their husbands are poor. In fact, somebody seriously asked whether she gave it as sadaka (alms)………….If only the money for the rice was used to buy desks, chairs, books, uniforms for primary and secondary schools, provide drugs for hospitals and so on. Besides, if food is going to be given as gift to Nigerians, it will be an irony to give it to Abuja residents, who are thought to be wealthy by people from other parts of the country. The type of job you are doing in Abuja notwithstanding, even if you are a shoe shiner or mai ruwa, since you are in Abuja, the nation’s seat of power, with the National Assembly of jumbo salary…….Thereafter, if there is any occasion that is going to be celebrated, it should be done in a grand manner, worthy of Nigeria’s status as the ‘giant’ of Africa, and one of the leading countries in the world in oil production, a country that supports other African countries, like the big brother it is. It should not be done with food portioned out to people as if they were in a war torn country, or one under the scourge of famine. Nigerians deserve some dignity.” I guess there is no need for me to expatiate on the above quoted news report. The report is self explanatory.

On Friday 25th, March 2011, the Punch Newspaper, a Nigerian newspaper, in a report by Ihuoma Chiedozie, reported on it’s online edition, captioned: Patience Jonathan supports 809 female candidates with funds; the news media reported: “Wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan, has given out monetary donations to a total of 809 female candidates from the various political parties who made the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list for the 2011 general elections. She donated the money when she hosted the female politicians at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa on Wednesday night. The gift was meant to assist the women to prosecute their electoral campaigns. Although the amount given to each of the women was not disclosed, a source in the Presidency said that none of them got more than N1m, in line with constitutional requirements. Also, the source explained that the female politicians received different sums according to the offices they seek to occupy. Individually, they picked their cheques after identifying themselves, before leaving the event. The gifts, which Jonathan presented through the platform of her Women for Change Initiative, was received by five female governorship aspirants, 88 senatorial candidates, 218 aspirants to the Federal House of Representatives and 493 candidates for state houses of assembly elections. Speaking at the event, the wife of the President expressed joy that more women were vying for public offices. She said, “I am pleased to see that compared to years before now, many women have taken the bold step to contest, this is as a result of our campaign on the Women for Change and Development.” Now the above is sufficiently self explanatory. The focus of this article is not to constitute this writer into a self appointed investigator seeking to unravel the source of the funds Dame Patience Jonathan is spending nyanfun nyanfun. The focus of this article is to draw attention to the fact that our dear First Lady has exploded and for every intent and every purpose, has effectively metamorphosed into a political godmother.

It will not be tantamount to drawing the elastic band too far, by stating that the Dame is candidate Goodluck Jonathan’s greatest, best and most effective political battle axe. Her ability to communicate very effectively with the forgotten and over-looked Nigerian rural and inner township impoverished women cannot be financially quantified. Her political godmother positioning vis a vis, the incumbent president’s electioneering project could prove very fruitful. Accept it or reject it, Dame Patience Jonathan has become Nigeria’s latest political sensation. Yes, the Dame is Nigeria’s latest political phenomenon.

Written by ANTHONY OKOSUN ( TONYOSUN@YAHOO.CO.UK)
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/anthony-okosun/dame-patience-jonathan-an-original-nigerian-political-godmother.html

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