Her lifestyle and extravagant indiscretion fed comedians, bloggers, and vloggers with endless content
Former President Jonathan was liberal to the core. He was one of those laid-back family heads who would overlook a teenage daughter smooching with a male friend behind the big garbage container in the backyard. Not so for the wife, Patience. She was a no-nonsense first lady, conservative to the core, and to a fault. She was domineeringly in control of her husband, her “first lady” office, staff, and politics.
So, when she took an entourage that included the wives of various public officers to Poland in 2014, an absurd but disgraceful incident involving Ebele Obiano, the then Anambra State First Lady, and Hon. Uche Ekwunife, a member of the Federal Constituency of Anambra State at the time, made it into the media. Mrs. Jonathan had witnessed and prevented what would have been a disgraceful physical altercation. The first lady, it was gathered, was disappointed with Mrs. Obiano who had orchestrated the entire chaotic incident, and she threatened to drop her from subsequent trips. There is little doubt Mrs. Jonathan knew Ebele and why she is not suitable for public service.
The purpose of this editorial is not to reinvent the 2014 incident but to adapt its synopsis as a yardstick for a recent but similar incident involving Mrs. Obiano that occurred during the inauguration of Anambra’s new governor, Dr. Charles Soludo. She had walked up to Bianca, the widow of the late Chief Emeka Ojukwu, and engaged her with rather a verbal and physical terroristic attitude. Irked by the aggression, Mrs. Ojukwu responded with an ear-deafening slap that has outpassed the Ukraine War in trending headline news.
According to Mrs. Ojukwu, “surprisingly, she then walked towards me and I thought she was coming to greet me. Instead, when she got to where I was seated, she verbally attacked me with her voice raised, taunting me, and asking me what I was there to do and using unprintable vile language.”
Mrs. Ojukwu was not done. She unleashed yet another stinker to further explain a disgraceful episode at was supposed to be a historic moment, saying, “What struck me through the whole episode was the fact that she was intoxicated. I was stunned by the stench of whisky in her breath at such an early hour of the day. How could a first lady be so drunk and proceed to turn up in that state to an inauguration ceremony that began at 9.00 am?”
I mean, which first lady would be so drunk before 9:00 am and proceed to the inauguration ceremony of her predecessor?
So, who does that? I mean, which first lady would be so drunk before 9:00 am and proceed to the inauguration ceremony of her predecessor? The outgoing Governor, Willie Obiano, who could not bear his wife’s shameful display, quickly left his handover ceremony.
While this dishonorable event was still trending, another news story broke involving the ex-governor, Mr. Obiano. A team from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested him on the same evening at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, on his way out of the country to Houston, Texas, in the United States.
Of course, this now ex-governor has been on the commission’s watch list since last year, so why would he try to escape hours after handing over the office? An unconfirmed EFCC source claimed he stole billions from Security Vote funds through cash withdrawals.
No doubt, Willie Obiano and most of his executive staff might have tough questions to answer after facilitating eight years of unexplained money-spinning ventures off their official obligations. Yet, Mrs. Obiano’s unrestrained arrogance, ludicrous ego, and primitive demeanor may have contributed to her husband’s swift departure from the country.
Mrs. Obiano’s unrestrained arrogance, ludicrous ego, and primitive demeanor may have contributed to her husband’s swift departure from the country.
In an eight-year tenure, Mrs. Obiano has offered nothing as the first lady but a thread of reprehensible and clownish blunders on her husband’s mandate. She has remained one of the most hated tenants in the government house. So much so that, after her slap ordeal, millions of Nigerians on social media were jubilant, seeing it as a thorough vindication of her prolonged moronic attitude toward official business.
Her lifestyle and extravagant indiscretion fed comedians, bloggers, and vloggers with endless content. She frequently shuttled unannounced from Lagos to Sugarland, Texas where they own a home apparently at the expense of tax-payers. For instance, in 2021, when nations battling COVID-19 deaths were rationing vaccines among at-risk individuals, Mrs. Obiano left her state in Nigeria to visit Houston for a COVID jab, which she arrogantly videoed to gratify her ego.
These things may explain why most Nigerians celebrated her inauguration slap ordeal, apparently, as a therapy for her perilous narcissistic temperament. Time will tell whether or not Mrs. Obiano has learned her lesson. Or, perhaps, if one solid slap was enough to erase decades of imbecility, primeval comportment, and egotism.
♦ Publisher of the Guardian News, Professor Anthony Obi Ogbo, Ph.D. is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News. He is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015) and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us
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