Over the weekend, Nigerians trooped out en masse to exercise their franchise. They came out to vote for their preferred presidential and National Assembly candidate. Eighteen contenders are vying to be the number one citizen in the country. Though there have been some discrepancies in the order of the election with some polling units witnessing violence and vote buying, the election still took place. The governing and election monitoring body, INEC has cancelled some elections and moved for the rerun of elections in some troubled areas.
It is almost 48 hours after the most anticipated election in the history of Nigeria and the results are still being collated. Very soon, a new president will emerge and the seat of the first lady will surface. All over the world, first ladies play a pivotal role to complement their husbands who are presidents. Most times the first ladies focus on the most vulnerable in society i.e. women and children.
In this post, we examine the profile of the four of the most promising and probable women to fit the role of the first lady of Nigeria in no particular order:
Mrs Margaret Obi
Margaret Obi is the wife of the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi. She is a philanthropist, human rights activist and businesswoman.
Margaret, who had served as First Lady during her husband’s tenure as Governor of Anambra State, has been married to the presidential candidate for 30 years, having tied the nuptial knot with him in 1992.
Serving as the first lady of Anambra state, she created numerous organisations and women’s initiation programs in the state. She is the convener of her husband’s National Gender Affirmative Action, a cause aimed at ensuring women earned a seat in Obi’s cabinet while he was Anambra State’s governor. She spearheaded the creation of family courts in the state’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development, MWAPD, which is aimed at dealing with issues involving the abuse of children and the violation of women’s rights; especially widows, ensuring they inherit their deceased husband’s properties.
Mrs Oluremi Tinubu
Popularly known as Remi, she is a third-time senator representing the Lagos Central district. Oluremi Tinubu is the wife of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate. She is also a former First Lady of Lagos State, her husband having been governor from 1999 to 2007.
As First Lady, the educationist, administrator and philanthropist established the New Era Foundation, dedicated to establishing centres for all-round development of young ones and promoting public awareness of environmental health and community service. She was involved in social activism within the state.
She is an ordained Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
Mrs Titi Abubakar
The wife of the presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, and former Vice President, Mrs Titi Abubakar, is an advocate of women and child rights. She is a former lecturer at the Kaduna State Polytechnic. She was offered automatic employment as a lecturer due to her exceptional performance as a student of the same institution. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, both from the University of Abuja. When her husband, Atiku Abubakar became Nigeria’s Vice President, she started an advocacy to end forced prostitution and other forms of human trafficking. As First Lady, she founded the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation, WOTCLEF, and then sponsored a private bill for strict punishment of traffickers, and for the establishment of a federal agency, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, responsible for fighting trafficking of persons in Nigeria.
Mrs Salamatu Kwankwaso
Salamatu Rabi’u Musa is the wife of Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, and former governor of Kano State. The couple has been married since the year 2000.
She served as First Lady while her husband was governor of Kano State. Unlike other wives of governors, almost nothing has been reported in the media about her activities during her reign as First Lady. Salamatu, who is rarely seen in public arena, attended Government Girls College, GGC, Kabo.