Below is the editorial comment of Guardian Newspapers of today. Nothing is impossible in this country.



Nyako and his four wives

IN the hurly-burly of Nigerian politics with its unending drama, another scandal has erupted in the form of four querulous wives determined to participate fully in the high stake game of governance. It all happened in Adamawa State where the Governor, Murtala Nyako (a retired Navy Vice-Admiral), whose electoral victory is still being challenged at the tribunal, is facing yet another battle in what can literally be described as his kitchen cabinet of four ambitious wives. Governor Nyako, a fine officer from his days in the Navy, is married to four women - Hajia Zainab Nyako, Dr. Halima Nyako, Justice Binta Nyako and Hajia Asmau Nana Nyako. Each of his four wives wants to be the first lady of Adamawa State.

According to reports, Governor Nyako initially decided that the First Lady should be Hajia Zainab who is said to have accompanied him during his political campaigns and who is noted for her grassroots closeness to the ordinary women of Adamawa State. He instructed that a special First Lady letter headed paper should be printed for Zainab's office. But during the celebrations marking the governor's first 100 days in office, Zainab was said to have unilaterally invited about 20 media managers to the event. This brazen display of one-upmanship was said to have annoyed Governor Nyako.

But the governor should have seen his conjugal problems coming. When Hajia Turai Yar'Adua, Nigeria's First Lady, invited other governors' wives to a meeting in Aso Villa, Justice Binta, another Nyako wife, showed up at the door beating Hajia Zainab to it. A furious Zainab was politely but firmly sent away on the ground that there was no room for two Nyako wives at the Villa.

Governor Nyako, disturbed by these developments, decided on what he thought was an ingenuous solution to the problem of the four wives. He was going to share out responsibilities on the basis of four zones. He determined as follows: Justice Binta Nyako would be first lady in charge of Abuja Affairs, Dr. Halima Nyako would be first lady in charge of Health, and Hajia Zainab Nyako would be in charge of Political Affairs and Mobilisation, whilst Hajia Asmau Nana Nyako would be first lady in charge of the Home Front.

He then ordered that first lady letter headed papers should be printed for all four and, leaving nothing to disturb his delicately balanced solution, he directed that each wife's official car is to have a common number plate, ADGMH 1.

The political repercussions of Governor Nyako's novel solution have pitched him against warring women groups supporting this or that wife in their fight for supremacy. It is unlikely that the governor will know any peace whilst matters stand like this. But it is the people of Adamawa who suffer from these unfortunate distractions. Adamawa State, already a hotbed of partisan politics during the Obasanjo/Atiku regime can ill-afford another bout of rascality. Governor Nyako's primitive solution has quadrupled the illegal expenditure on the office of First Lady.

For instance, Adamawa State indigenes now need four cars, four offices with their retinue of staff, four new foundations, four of everything to maintain Nyako's four wives. For a group unknown to the constitution, this proliferation of invented duties merely adds salt to the wound. We warned in an earlier editorial that the bastardisation of the office of the First Lady is immoral and indefensible. We must call on Governor Nyako to put his house in order and save the people of Adamawa and Nigeria from ridicule. If he cannot manage four women, how then does he intend to manage an entire state?

We also call on Nyako's wives to be reasonable knowing that an escalation of their rivalry could only be detrimental to their husband's performance. They could, by their behaviour, sabotage the governance process in Adamawa State. They must know that Nigerians consider the office they so desperately covet as superfluous and an unnecessary waste of resources by persons who spend public money without accounting to the public.

Come to think of it, of Nyako's women, one is a doctor, the other a Justice, the other two are also said to be educated. Are these achievements not honourable enough or do they not have enough on their plate to fill their day? There are also security implications when four power-hungry women are clustered at the seat of power, plotting and planning. In an attempt to undo each other, they might in fact undo their husband. Nyako should call his wives to order.

Whilst not attempting to impose a solution on Governor Nyako, may we remind him that he is not the only polygamist among serving governors. May we also remind him that General Murtala Muhammed, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and General Muhammadu Buhari, to name a few, ruled this country without bothering us with their wives. Murtala Nyako's four wives should find something else to engage their attention and stop disturbing the Nigerian public with their indecorous conduct.

So is this meant to enlighten Nigerians or to throw the entire Nigerian nation into ridicule? When some journalists have nothing to say, why can't they just come out and say "Nothing Significant Happened Today". Nobody will kill them.