Since inception, President
Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration has been
accused of impunity, usually
caused by decisions and
actions of the President,
including those of his ministers
and close associates.
Most of the glaring cases of
abuse of power including
reckless spending of taxpayers’
money have been carried out
by the women in Jonathan’s
cabinet. These women have
proven to be more powerful
than the
number one citizen of Nigeria
because despite public outcries
that greet some of their
decisions, they go scot-free.
Those who fall in this
seemingly untouchable
category are the First Lady,
Mrs. Patience Jonathan; the
Coordinating Minister for the
Economy and Minister of
Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala; the Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke; the
Director-General of the
Securities and Exchange
Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh;
and the Minister of Aviation,
Ms. Stella Oduah.
These powerful women have
some things in common. They
are all from the South-East and
South-South geopolitical
zones. Four of them had their
higher education in the United
States and two of them are
daughters of traditional rulers.
Needless to say they occupy
some of the most strategic and
‘lucrative’ positions in the
Federal Government.
PATIENCE JONATHAN
In Nigeria’s history, Patience
Jonathan is believed to be the
most powerful First Lady in
terms of the amount of
influence she has over her
husband and his cabinet. Mrs.
Jonathan first gave a glimpse
into the enormous power she
wields in 2011 when she
traversed the country,
campaigning for her husband in
a way that irked many
Nigerians.
Several calls by individuals and
groups to the President to
restrain his wife yielded no
result. Also, in June this year,
in apparent violation of the
electoral act, Mrs. Jonathan
reportedly started campaigning
for her husband ahead of the
2015 elections. Another show
of impunity by the President’s
wife is the way she cripples any
town or city she visits with her
long motorcade, including
bulletproof limousines and
scores of armed policemen.
She grounded Lagos in 2012
when she visited to say “thank
you” to some women groups
for their support in electing her
husband. Despite the protest
by several Nigerians, who felt
that their right to move freely in
their country was violated by
the movement of an unelected
individual, the President’s wife
was never cautioned, at least
not publicly. Instead, the
Presidency rose to her defence,
giving her the liberty to do more
in other cities. Her visits and
grounding of traffic in Port
Harcourt and Warri were also
greeted with wide
condemnations.
To show how powerful she is,
Mrs. Jonathan publicly
admitted making attempts to
dictate to the Governor of
Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, a
move that largely precipitated
the ongoing political crisis in
the state.
In Aso Rock, where she resides
with her husband, the fear of
Mrs. Jonathan is the beginning
of wisdom as she leaves no
one in doubt that she is in
charge. There is always a
retinue of favour seekers
waiting to see her daily.
Mrs. Jonathan, a native of
Bayelsa State, was born in Port
Harcourt on October 25, 1957
and holds National Certificate of
Education in Mathematics and
Biology from the Rivers State
College of Arts and Science,
and a Bachelor of Education
degree in biology and
psychology from the University
of Port Harcourt.
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA
Right from when the
negotiation to bring her from
the World Bank started, it was
obvious that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala was bound to wield so
much power in Jonathan’s
government.
With her position as the
coordinating minister for the
economy (a new position
created for her) and Finance
Minister, Okonjo-Iweala, who is
currently 83rd on Forbes’
global list of powerful women,
calls the shots as far as
Nigeria’s economy is
concerned. While doing that,
she has called the bluff of many
including state governors and
the National Assembly without
any consequence.
The state governors, who have
complained about the shabby
way the minister treat them,
have called for her removal
while the Academic Staff Union
of Universities has called her a
‘dictator.’ But no matter the
protest, Okonjo-Iweala remains
a darling of the President.
The sacking of Mr. Shuaib
Yushau as the Head, Media and
Information Unit of the National
Emergency Management
Agency, after he wrote what
was considered a critical article
against Okonjo-Iweala, further
showed that the minister was
not to be messed with.
The article entitled ‘Still on
Okonjo-Iweala over
Controversial Appointments’,
published on March 6, called
on the minister “to ensure that
appointments into important
positions should be done in
credible and transparent
manner that can withstand
public scrutiny.”
Similarly, Mr. Lawrence Ani,
was reportedly suspended
indefinitely from his job as
Saturday Editor of Thisday
Newspaper for publishing a
story that cited data that
indicated a drop in Nigeria’s
Gross Domestic Product under
Okonjo-Iweala’s watch.
In 2011, against the opinion of
the majority of Nigerians,
Okonjo-Iweala and the Minister
of Petroleum Resources,
Diezani Alison-Madueke,
insisted on the removal of fuel
subsidy, and literally ordered it
on the outset of 2012, resulting
in the Occupy Nigeria protest.
Okonjo-Iweala, who also
served as finance minister and
foreign minister under President
Olusegun Obansanjo and as a
Managing Director at the World
Bank, was born on June 13,
1954 to Professor Chukuka
Okonjo, who is the Obi
(traditional ruler) of Ogwashi-
Uku.
She graduated from Harvard
University in 1977, and earned
her Ph.D. in regional economic
development from the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in 1981.
She is married to Ikemba Iweala
from Abia State.
DIEZANI ALISON-MADUEKE
Virtually all sections of the
Nigerian society have called for
the resignation of the Petroleum
Resources Minister, Diezani
Alison-Madueke, all to no avail.
Most of those who sought her
removal had cited several
allegations of corrupt practices
under her watch as reasons for
their demand.
After the revelation of massive
fraud in the fuel subsidy
administration to the tune of
N1.7trn, many had thought
that heads would roll, including
that of Alison-Madueke, who
supervised the rot. Some heads
did roll, but not that of the
queen of the Nigeria oil and gas
industry.
Till date, the Presidency has
not queried or probed Diezani
over allegations against her
and the indictment of
departments under her by
several panels, including those
headed by Nuhu Ribadu,
Farouk Lawan, and Aigboje Aig-
Imoukhuede as well as the
Nigerian Extractive Industry
Transparency Initiative.
Diezani has also not explained
to Nigeria, whom she was
appointed to serve, what role
she played in the massive
corruption that led to the loss
of huge amounts of public fund.
Apart from the demands for the
Alison-Madueke’s resignation
and prosecution by civil society
groups, who led the Occupy
Nigeria protest, the House of
Representatives also
demanded her removal as
minister.
Despite this, the President did
not suspend her, and gave no
explanation for that. This
shows how powerful she is.
Alison-Madueke is the first
woman to hold the position of
Minister of Petroleum
Resources in Nigeria, and in
October 2010 she became the
first woman to head a country’s
delegation at the annual OPEC
conference. She was also the
first female Minister of
Transportation, and the first
woman to be appointed to the
board of Shell Petroleum
Development Company Nigeria.
Alison-Madueke was born on
December 6, 1960 in Port
Harcourt.
She graduated from Howard
University in 1992, with a
Bachelor’s degree in
architecture and returned to
Nigeria to join Shell Petroleum
Development Corporation.
About 10 years later, she
earned an MBA from Cambridge
University and was appointed
as the first female executive
director of Shell Nigeria.
In 1999, she got married to
Admiral Alison Madueke (retd),
one-time Chief of Naval Staff
who was at different times
military governor of Imo and
Anambra states.
STELLA ODUAH
Not many are aware of the
tremendous power of the
Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah,
in Jonathan’s government. For
her role in Jonathan’s 2011
campaign, she was reportedly
rewarded with a ministerial
appointment to the aviation
ministry, even though she had
no prior training in the field of
aviation.
Many believe that the President
feels indebted to her for her role
as the Director of Finance and
Administration of the Jonathan/
Sambo Campaign Organisation
and in the establishment of
Neighbour-to-Neighbour outfit,
which reportedly spent billions
of naira on adverts and media
propaganda in favour of
Jonathan, especially while the
Occupy Nigeria protest lasted.
Considering this relationship
with Jonathan, it should not be
a surprise that Oduah’s
response to critics after the
Dana and Associated Airlines
crashes reeked of arrogance.
The latest revelation that she
forced the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority to buy her
bulletproof vehicles has again
elicited calls for her removal
and prosecution but
considering the way the
President has treated public
outcries against these powerful
women, Oduah is likely to
remain minister till the end of
Jonathan’s administration.
Princess Stella Oduah was born
on January 5, 1962 to Igwe
D.O. Oduah of Akili-Ozizor in
Anambra State on January 5,
1962.
She got her Bachelor’s degree
in accounting and MBA from
American universities.
Oduah joined the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation
in 1983 and in 1992, she
established a petroleum
products marketing company,
Sea Petroleum & Gas Company
Limited. She was married to the
former Minister for Works, Chris
Ogiemwonyi.
ARUNMA OTEH
Through her battles, the
Director-General of the
Securities Exchange
Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh,
has sufficiently earned the
name ‘Iron lady’ even beyond
her official sphere of influence.
When she clashed with the
House of Representatives
Committee on the Capital
Market, it was the chairman of
the committee, Mr. Herman
Hembe, that got hurt.
The committee had accused
Oteh of fraud and
misappropriation of funds. She
fired back, accusing Hembe of
demanding bribe from SEC. The
SEC board suspended Oteh in
order to investigate the findings
of the lawmakers, who probed
the capital market and indicted
her. She immediately petitioned
the President and Okonjo-
Iweala. After two months, the
President returned Oteh to her
position, following the auditor’s
report that said her offence
amounted only to
‘administrative lapses.’ The
directors and staff of the
commission, who had protested
Oteh’s alleged high-
handedness, were advised to
calm down and obey their
boss.
On the other hand, Hembe was
arraigned by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission
and also stepped down as
chairman of the committee.
The crisis led to an intense
battle between President
Jonathan and the House of
Representatives. The House
demanded the sacking of Oteh
but Jonathan refused.
The passage of the 2013
budget was delayed because of
the fight. Eventually, the
lawmakers insisted on zero
budget for SEC to force the
President’s hand, but he did
not budge. Calls for her
removal by civil society groups
also fell on deaf ears. Oteh,
who is an indigene of Abia
State, is also a British citizen.
She graduated with first-class
degree in computer sciences
from the University of Nigeria in
Nsukka and earned her MBA
from Harvard Business School.
