STAND BY YOUR MAN

                                                         
During the Monica Lewinsky saga, when the then US president Bill Clinton was found on the frock of Ms Lewinsky and he nearly lost his presidency; the then first lady, Mrs Hilary Clinton, although humiliated, came out to support her man. She was dignified and subtle. Back then feminist were aghast, they could not believe it, how can such an educated woman put up with this? They expected her to give him the boot. Hilary was much wiser than them all. She 'stood by' her husband and remained the first lady till the end of his tenure, went on to become a senator and then Secretary of State under President Obama. She is also in the running for the plum job when Obama is done. She wasn't going to give all that up because of the indiscretion of Bill! She understood that she could not remain as first lady without her husband as president! Republicans were humiliated and defeated.

Dame Patience too has come out to stand by her man and give him the support she can in this most challenging of times we find ourselves as a nation. One cannot help but have sympathy for the president. The man seems to be overwhelmed and his Mrs knows best what he is going through and that may be why she has come all out. But she needs very good advisers, strategists, friends and counselors at this time more than at any other time. And she needs to take good advise. She must be careful so that her support for her husband does not turn out to be support for his foes. Someone needs to tell the first lady some bitter truths. Do not undermine your husband. Stop setting up parallel courts with him. Her team need to remind her that she is on the world stage and not in the market square in Okrika.

 Patience Jonathan should urgently overhaul her whole team of advisers, media aides, strategists etc, she should sack them all for the ridicule they put the first lady and Nigeria as a whole through. How can they stand by and allow the poor woman make such a harrowing spectacle of herself. Why did you all stand by and let her usurp the powers of her husband publicly. Wives usurp their husbands powers everyday all over the world but it is done discreetly and behind closed doors! The first lady's actions rather than portray her as caring and supportive of her husband; portrays her instead as an overbearing and meddlesome.

It is a difficult time indeed. Bombs going off everywhere, girls being abducted, women coming out to protest, things seem to be falling apart. But the first lady must be dignified, compassionate and composed through it all and despite it all. She must assure us by her composure, as the closest person to our president, that things are under control, that her husband is on top of things, that he is fully in control, that we should not fear and that we should have confidence in him. What her team should not let her do is to come out and show us that things are falling apart, that the center is no longer holding, that Mr President is about to buckle under the pressure. Her handlers should not let her play into the hands of her husbands' distractors just like Hillary did not play into the hands of the Republicans.

Dame Jonathan, stand by your man just like Hilary before you did, but please stand within the law and stand dignified.