Africa's 'powerful' first ladies

Furtherance to the fall of Zimbabwe’s first lady from grace (no pun intended), alleged to have “usurped” constitutional powers, and aiming to succeed her ageing husband as the next president of Zimbabwe (which would later be her undoing), it’s pertinent to note that Grace Mugabe is not necessarily one of a kind.

Mrs Mugabe famously once said "they say i want to be president. Why not? am i not a Zimbabwean?", but while she may struggle to actualise that dream (at least for now) one woman is actually close to doing precisely that.

South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is another powerful first lady sort of. Although divorced from President Jacob Zuma, she is a strong contender to succeed her ex-husband come 2019.

Like Grace Mugabe, her main rival too is the deputy president, and the crisis that has plagued Zimbabwe’s Zanu PF could trouble South Africa’s ANC too.

Mrs Mugabe is not the first, and probably won’t be the last first lady to have wielded so much power and influence during her husband’s government and within the ruling party and seemingly above everyone bar one.

Nigeria however is a case study when it comes to “powerful first ladies”.

The role of the first lady became quite significant in Nigeria during the military rule, starting with General Ibrahim Babangida’s government from 1985 to 1993. His late wife Maryam Babangida pioneered the era of Africa’s first ladies.

Prior to that, most wives of presidents or heads of states in Nigeria were private citizens and usually only made ceremonial appearances in the company of their husbands during national events.

But being first lady in that era, was about providing “better life for rural dwellers”- that was the toga of Maryam Babangida’s movement as first lady.

She used her influence as the wife of the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Nigeria to gather goodwill (not that many would refuse her under the circumstance), but that was the birth of the first lady syndrome in Nigeria at least.

She even hosted the princess Diana in Lagos in 1990 and seemed to get on very well with her, being conscious of her own status as first lady of Nigeria.

Better life for women

Subsequent first ladies took advantage of this new role to establish their place and “role” in the polity, as the office of the first lady emerged. It became a real thing, a department under the “presidency”.

The wives of the state governors followed suit, each rising to the occasion in their respective states as co-captains with their husbands, with a retinue of staff, ranging from a press crew, to police escorts, ladies in waiting, protocol officers, members of the department of state etcetera, and a deployment of civil servants to “run” the office of the first lady which also became a department under “government house”.

In some cases, the entourage of the first lady has been known to account for more than six vehicles with over 30 personnel despite that most first ladies only attend social functions.

The first lady has steadily evolved into an authority figure and a key member of government, referred to as “her excellency”, no longer just the spouse of the politician, but depending on her ambition or personality, the first lady in Nigeria can make or break and can influence government activities.

In fact a Nigerian first lady can ride the cloak-tail of her husband to secure a top political spot if she so desires.

Until recently when Grace Mugabe burst onto the scene, one could argue that Nigeria has a history of some of the most powerful first ladies, who like Grace can “usurp constitutional powers” and act in multiple capacity as a party echelon, a senior civil servant and as first lady simultaneously.

Nigeria’s former first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan was a quintessential “powerful” first lady. 

Her infamous fall-out with the former governor of Rivers state, now minister for transport Rotimi Amaechi is one out of many public display of power during her husband’s time as president where Mrs Jonathan made it clear who was the boss.

In 2014, she had a public meltdown when 276 girls were abducted from their school by the Boko Haram terror group, as she summoned the school authorities to her office and demanded some explanations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMwIkuoAMj0

One would have expected a more formal process to follow such a serious incident as the kidnap of 276 girls, probably an enquiry or a select committee of some sort to probe the matter, not a summon to the office of the first lady, but such was the depth of the powers of “her excellency”.

“First lady is calling you to help you” she famously ranted, whilst addressing the staff of Chibok secondary school where the girls were kidnapped.

One of the major criticisms levelled against Jonathan’s Government apart from allegations of embezzlement and corruption was the meddling of his wife in government and party affairs and how she appeared to have much influence.

Laying down the law

A former first lady of Nigeria once gave instructions that under no circumstance, should the wives of governors be addressed as “first ladies”, because she is the only first lady of the country.

It became official; all wives of the governors were indeed addressed as “wife of the governor” in their correspondences and when they were addressed in public.

This caused a bit of a problem, because some of the women wanted the title of first lady but didn’t want to incur the wrath of the ultimate first lady so had to settle for the less glamorous title of “wife of”.

But what exactly is the job of a first lady?

In a society where women still face gross inequality, one would think that a Grace Mugabe should be a breath of fresh air, particularly amongst other African women, so why is an ambitious woman vilified?

Why was Patience Jonathan berated and told repeatedly to stay off the spotlight?

Why is Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma referred to as Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife, without acknowledging her role in the anti-apartheid struggle or the fact that she served as minister since 1994, way before her husband became president?

Rather than view Grace Mugabe as an opportunistic former typist, how about a dogged determined woman from a humble background, who dares to believe in the impossible and could pioneer a new generation of strong African women?

Perhaps Grace Mugabe, like her counterparts, feels the need to go above and beyond to get respect having been relegated to the background for so long and possibly no longer want to be addressed as “wife of” any longer, only time will tell.

In the meantime, will “powerful women” who “usurp” their husband’s position to lord it over other people take a cue from Grace Mugabe? I’m talking our “first ladies” and “mummy GOs” and “Oga madams”.

Every first lady who feels passionate about issues in government, should get involved. Like Michelle Obama, strong and legitimate, yet never undermined nor jeopardised her husband nor came across as meddling.

Our “powerful” African first ladies need to chart a new course.