Nigeria’s First Ladies

 Initially, the office of the first lady of Nigeria didn’t exist. The wives of Nigeria’s presidents/heads of state were not always visible. Some were seen and not heard and some were never even seen. And when the office gained a semblance of recognition, it was rather insignificant – until the 1980s.

After independence in 1960, Nigeria had a prime minister and a president. As the Prime Minister, Alhaji (Sir) Tafawa Balewa supervised the day-to-day running of government while Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe held office as the ceremonial President of the country. Balewa had four wives but they rarely appeared in public.

Picture: naijaarchives

However, Zik attended state functions with his wife Flora. Although she was known as Nigeria's First Lady from October 1, 1963 when Nigeria became a republic, there no office set aside for her.

Mrs. Azikiwe played a role in politics; she was a member of the Eastern Working Committee of her husband’s party, the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). She was also patron of the Home Science Association (HSA), an organization that encouraged healthy living through food and nutrition. She passed away in 1983.

Aguiyi-Ironsi   Picture: Vanguard

After the January 1966 coup that toppled the First Republic, Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi became Nigeria’s first military head of state. His wife Victoria, a humble and simple woman, preferred to remain in the background. Sadly, the regime lasted only six months. Aguiyi-Ironsi was assassinated and Lady Victoria lost her husband to whom she had been married for 13 years.

General Yakubu Gowon was still a bachelor when he became head of state in July 1966. Three years after assuming office, on April 19,1969, he married Miss Victoria Zakari, a nurse.

The Gowons
Picture: romancemeetslife.com

Till date Victoria remains the youngest first lady in Nigeria’s history and the only one to wed while in office. Her youthfulness, charm and poise endeared her to many Nigerians. However, some critics slammed the couple for having a lavish wedding in the middle of the Nigerian Civil War, which claimed the lives of more than one million Nigerians.

One of the highlights of Victoria’s tenure as first lady was the couple’s official visit to England. It was a flamboyant affair. Queen Elizabeth pulled out all the stops to give the Nigerian leader and his wife a welcome befitting royalty.

This is arguably the most lavish treatment Britain has ever given a Nigerian leader.

In 1975 the more reserved Ajoke Muhammed, a dental therapist, succeeded Victoria Gowon. Mrs. Muhammed had barely settled down as first lady when her husband, General Muritala Muhammed, was brutally murdered in a failed coup attempt just six months after assuming office.

Muhammed   Picture: Premium Times

Ajoke, who was just a young woman when her husband was assassinated, recently celebrated her 75^th birthday. She has remained one of the most loved and respected former First Ladies of the country. Although she shuns public life, her works in horticulture and landscaping have spoken for her and she is highly revered by many.

Esther Obasanjo    Picture: Encomium

The next first lady, Mrs. Esther Oluremi Obasanjo, wife of General Olusegun Obasanjo, was also rarely seen in public. However, her stock rose years after the couple left State House and their marriage to went south. She wrote a book, Bitter-Sweet: My Life With Obasanjo in which she made a lot of unsavoury allegations against her ex-husband.

Safinatu Buhari (right) Picture: The News

Like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first executive president Alhaji Shehu Shagari had many wives and preferred to keep them away from public glare during his four-year tenure.  The public barely got a glimpse of any of his wives until 2001 when one of them passed away.

General Muhammadu Buhari, who shoved away the profligate government of Shagari, also preferred to keep his family under wraps. Little was known about his wife Safinatu (nee Yusuf) until their divorce in 1988 and unfortunate death in 2006.

Babangida   Picture: stargist.com

Then came Mrs. Maryam Babangida. She revolutionsed the role of the first lady. She brought glamour and style to the office and women copied her simple but elegant dresses. Mrs. Babangida remained a style icon until her death on 27 December 2009. She also initiated the Better Life for Rural Women, a programme that endeared her in no small measure to Nigerian women.

Shonekan   Picture: Chrisland University

When her husband, General Ibrahim Babangida “stepped aside” Maryam gave way to Margaret Shonekan whose husband’s unpopular interim government lasted just 84 days before he was overthrown by General Sanni Abacha.

Abacha   Picture: nigerianeye.com

Abacha’s wife Maryam tried her best to retain a charming smile even as Nigerians groaned under her husband’s iron-fisted rule. Her focus on the wellbeing of the family made her establish the Family Support Programme (FSP). She also founded the National Hospital Abuja (originally National Hospital For Women And Children). She retreated to the background upon her husband’s death in 1998, a victim of the bad legacy her husband left behind.

Abubakar   Picture: informationng.com

Fati Abubakar, a judge, replaced Mrs. Abacha but her husband, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, was in such a hurry to return Nigeria to democratic rule that she was first lady for less than a year. However, she still had time to initiate the Women Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), which has since blossomed as a non-governmental organization.

Obasanjo’s emergence as a democratically elected president in 1999 saw him return with another woman as first lady. This time, it was Stella (nee Abebe).

Obasanjo   Picture: Wikipedia

Mrs. Stella Obasanjo also made the family her focal point. She tried to raise awareness about the scourge of HIV/AIDS and malaria, as well as the problem of domestic violence.

A lover of children, she started the Child Trust Foundation, which she used to touch the lives of many young Nigerians. In February 2003, she joined the Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation. Sadly, she died in 2005, a few weeks before her 60th birthday, following complications from a surgery.

YarÁdua   Picture: Premium Times

Her successor, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua is believed to be the most influential first lady in Nigeria's history and one of her husband's closest advisors. Turai, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Languages from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), fought against cancer and HIV/AIDS, establishing the National Women Coalition against AIDS (NAWOCA).

Unfortunately she didn’t see her four-year term to the end as her husband Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua died in office after a long sickness.

Jonathan   Picture: 36ng.com

She was followed by Patience Jonathan, who followed the tradition of first ladies having pet projects. Dame Jonathan launched the Women for Change Initiative (WCI). It is regarded as one of the most ambitious projects a Nigerian First Lady has ever initiated and she was recognised nationally and internationally for her philanthropic work.

“Mama Peace” is arguably the most ridiculed first lady in Nigeria’s history. But she took all the criticism in her stride and gave her husband unflinching loyalty. However, many believe her actions and utterances hurt his presidency badly, paving way for Buhari’s second coming.

Like Obasanjo, Buhari also came back as executive president with a new first lady, in the person of Mrs. Aisha Buhari. This time, however, the office of the first lady has been toned down. The administration prefers to call her “the wife of the President” and not first lady. The president’s wife, an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, also agreed to limit her role to whatever the constitution allows.

Aisha Buhari   Picture: BBC

But even before her husband officially took over power on May 29, 2015, Mrs. Aisha Buhari hit the ground running. She called for a legislation protecting children from early marriage, endearing herself to Nigerians.

She also founded Future Assured, an initiative which she uses to promote the health and wellbeing of women and children. Additionally, she is currently working with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), especially those who were affected by Boko Haram attacks.

Although she comes from a conservative and highly religious background, Mrs. Buhari is a woman her own ideas. On the day of her husband’s inauguration she was criticized for wearing a $52,000 wristwatch. This was seen as a huge contrast to the president’s Spartan lifestyle.

She also publicly criticized the composition of her husband’s cabinet and threatened that she may not campaign or vote for him in the 2019 elections if the trend doesn’t change. It was the first time a Nigerian first lady has publicly slated her husband.

However, a few weeks later she reassured Nigerians that she was committed to the success of President Buhari’s administration.