Kwankwaso: A Governor Without First Lady By Abubakar Bello Buba

Hilary Clinton, a one-time first lady and America’s Secretary of State in charge of foreign affairs said, “I have been very critical of the ways in which women married to men in power hijack the spaces, voices and resources of others, particularly civil society and use this as a platform to dispense political favours and elevate other elite women.”

In Nigeria, women married to high-profile political officeholders have not only hijacked spaces, voices and resources, they have become much more powerful than the vice presidents, deputy governors, ministers, ambassadors, commissioners, inspectors-general of police, chief of army staff, members of the House of Representatives, the members of State Houses of Assembly.

In Nigeria, first ladies have shut down streets to hold their private affairs; first ladies have been allocated N4 billion for an only-God-knows building; they have prompted the allocation of lands; denied high-profile political officeholders access to the president; they are in the vanguard of re-election bids; they use Nigeria’s Coat of Arms and official seals flamboyantly; they seize microphones from governors’ hands in public events. First ladies have sacked local government officeholders; they have been caught in the UK with astronomical amounts of money. They have attempted to run the affairs of a state in Nigeria by proxy; and have been accomplices in financial scandals in the UK. Some first ladies have very glamorous motorcades; they have attempted to purchase and desired to fly private jets. The list is numberless.

First ladies own non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and ridiculous projects that outlive their usefulness and purported objectives as soon as the presidents and governors vacate their offices, an indication that they squander public funds through such projects during their husbands’ tenures. They receive honorary awards they do not deserve.

Amidst this beautiful Nigerian madness, there is a governor who does not have the office of a first lady.

Answering questions from Mr. Kayode of Newswatch on Tuesday, June 13, 2012 during an interview, on why he does not have a first lady, Governor Kwankwaso said, “I am sure the position of first lady is not in the constitution. So it is first things first. First of all, my wife is my wife – the wife to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Secondly, if you like, she is the wife to the Governor of Kano State.

But I am not saying that others should think the way I think. My wife doesn’t go to any ministry. I don’t allow commissioners to go to my wife. In any case, if my wife has the governor at her disposal anytime, why would she need a commissioner? I told my wife, “If you want anything in government, tell me.” But she knows – and everybody knows – that I cannot steal anything in government and bring to her. If there is anything genuine that everybody is entitled to, then she can also go for it.

“To me, creating an office of the first lady endangers the wife by exposing her to all sorts of risks – the inherent problems associated with politics, leadership, etc. If you put all your eggs in one basket, you end up in one problem or the other. Also, if you have people who have not gone through the system – like our wives – they may create one problem or the other for themselves. Sometimes, if you cannot fell the tree, you go for the branches because they are very easy to cut and fell. That is why you should not give your enemies that opportunity. We have people who cannot come to terms with marking buildings with Kwankwasiyya, what would they do if they catch my wife stealing public money?’’

If the truth must be told, this style of leadership is worthy of emulation and praise. As reliably gathered, he has taken this position out of moral, philosophical, political, social and religious conviction. It is said; and it is true that his wife has been trained and instructed not to go after such a crazy ambition as demonstrated by other wives of Nigerian governors.

Kwankwaso’s predecessors had three offices for their first ladies: an Office of the First Lady for the first wife, another for the second wife and a third office for the third wife. And so it goes for all governors with more than one wife. What a beautiful abuse of the office of the first lady in the real sense of the word.

It is, however, important to note that Governor Kwankwaso is not the only leader in Nigeria who has ever refused to create the office of the first lady. Like Kwankwaso, they were not morally convinced that the office is constitutionally justifiable. The former military head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari also refused to create the office of a first lady when he was in power.

Other governors and people in different positions of political leadership should learn from Kwankwaso’s humble example. It is time to make this country better by doing the right thing at the right time.

Buba is of the Advocate of Good Governance in Nigeria.
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