Turai Yar'Adua our modern day Imelda Marcos

Turai Yar'Adua our modern day Imelda Marcos. by Kayode Ogundamisi

Imelda Marcos is known in world history as the schemer of Philippines but also the “jointe presidento” of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos became the 10th President of the Philippines, he took the oath of office to defend the constitution of Philippines but in practical terms gave the “right to rule” to his amiable, strong wife, the “rose of Tacloban” and “iron butterfly” Imelda Marcos. Today Nigeria is presenting to the world her own Imelda Marcos in the person of “Her Excellency” Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, wife of the bedridden President of the Federal republic of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Turai like Winnie and Hilary also finds herself in the throes of very sad historical circumstances. For her right now, there is the need to rise up from the ruins of a heart that should be shattered by the fate of her terminally ill husband who is also the president of a country in turmoil and stand on the side of her country. Turai must choose between the privileges of being the wife of a president and the rights of a country in need of a president; a president at work. She also needs to choose between the needs of a helpless man who must be challenged by the fact he is indeed dying and her need to enjoy the splendour, influence and ostentation that attend the life of a president's wife in Nigeria.Inspite of the despicable things we do to each other in a bid to survive and be influential, we are a nation of people with the African spirit; we share deep fraternal ties and true love for one another. Inspire of the fact that Stella and her husband abused the faith of Nigerians, we sympathised with him and her family. We are quick to empathise with our neighbour in distress and do whatsoever we can to ease the pain.

That is why it is painfully embarrassing to see that we have been denied the privilege to empathise with the Yar'adua family over the predicament of their son and Turai must take the bulk of the responsibility for that because of the obvious choices she has made. She must be held accountable for the fact that rather than cushion her husband's pains, she is fuelling the outrage that compounds his situation by insisting that he hangs unto power at the expense of Nigeria and his life. How much could a man possibly hold unto at a time like this?

It's amazing to see how she has evolved from the rustic woman who suddenly found herself in Aso rock to this sophisticated trendy woman with an insatiable appetite for power and the accessories that make it addictive. Turai leaves no one in doubt about her aspirations and she seems to be acting a well thought out plot that should culminate in her enthronement.
What we can only do is appeal to Madam President in waiting to put the well being of her husband and Nigeria first before anything else. President Umar Musa Yar’Adua is described as a very good man with good intentions and some of us who oppose his evil party the Peoples Democratic Party believe so, Turai can help free Musa from the “nest of killers”. She must join well meaning Nigerians to liberate the president from the evil men and women who pretend to love Musa Yar’Adua than Yar’Adua himself, they are nothing but a greedy lot who in reality are determined to loot our commonwealth and manipulate a sick president in the interest of the minority few in Abuja and other part of Nigeria over the 145 million people in dire need for a living and working President.

Hajia Turai is free as a Nigerian citizen to contest election into any post in Nigeria including the highest position in the land, the way she is holding on to power in Morden day Nigeria makes Imelda Marcos look like mother Theresa.

Only Hajia Turai Yar’Adua can free Musa Yar’Adua from the vagabonds in power. The time to tell the president to step down is now, in his own interest, in Turai’s interest and in the interest of Nigeria.Nigeria takes pre-eminence over any individual or gang. Ours is a democracy and not monarchy where the queen can inherit the throne after the king. There are laid down procedures that must be followed. Besides does Turai think she can do better than her husband? And if that were the case there are constitutional ways of proving her point without taking Nigeria hostage. 2011 is here already and it’s a trouble free opportunity she can take advantage of to pursue her ambition. She's been first lady long enough and with the talents she's revealing to us right now, there's no doubt about the fact that she must have amassed enough resources to fund her ambition. Hillary was merciful enough to legally pursue her ambition without politically murdering her husband. Let her story inspire Turai and encourage her to desist from rushing her husband to his grave.

Evil manifests in diverse ways but Turai and her gang are unprecedented! Nigerians do not want the president dead, Nigerians want the president to 'step aside' and take care of his health. If by the grace of God he survives it all, he is welcome to submit himself to democratic processes again.