By Ochereome Nnanna
When the story broke out about a week ago, it
predictably sparked off an outrage. Reclusive
Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, was
portrayed as detaining his wife, Clara, against her
will in the Government House. There were other
stories credited to the troubled First Lady, of the
Governor’s alleged prolonged neglect of his marital
duties.
I was dumbfounded that a couple not previously
known to have domestic problems would suddenly
take their dirty laundry to the public square to wash.
For a woman whose husband is occupying such an
enviable position to come out and complain so
bitterly left me wondering. Goodness knows that a
normal marriage is not always a piece of cake. Any
responsibly married person will go the extra mile to
defend his or her marriage and family without
counting costs. It becomes more so if the father of
the home is occupying the seat of Executive
Governor of a state or any other enviable position.
Most women will, at least for the sake of the
children and other members of the family and its
peripherals, forebear the man’s shortcomings and
soldier on.
But the matter of forcible detention was quite
another matter. It verged on human rights violations,
and dehumanisation. If indeed it happened, there
would be no hiding place for Chime, not just from
Lagos-based lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) who was
loudly (as usual) representing Mrs Chime all over
the media, but also from all right thinking members
of this society. Governor Chime is a media recluse.
But this time, he had no choice but to open his
doors to the media and assembly all the relevant
people around him as he addressed newsmen last
week. Among them were his wife, his close
relations, his wife’s close relations, her physician
and security officials.
It turned out that Mrs Chime is seriously indisposed,
health-wise. She has been ill for a long time, even
before her husband was sworn-in as Governor
nearly seven years ago. The manner or name of the
illness was not disclosed. But when you hear that a
sick person is kept away from the public and denied
access to the phone and computer with which she
could communicate to the world out there, you can
count your teeth with your tongue. In other words, it
was for her own good and that of the family that she
was kept away from having free access to the
public.
While Chime spoke, he gave the wife and other
members of the family as well as her physician the
opportunity to speak to the media and contradict his
submissions. Since he was not contradicted, my
immediate reaction was that this should be allowed
to remain exactly what it is: a family affair.
I believe Falana when he says he was “briefed” by
Mrs Chime, more so if indeed he has it in writing or
on record. I do not fault his good intentions for
petitioning the Inspector General of Police to secure
her release, or for being concerned over the alleged
abuse of her human rights.
But before we draw hasty conclusions, we must
first of all ascertain if this lady is physically,
mentally and psychologically sound enough to hold
her own. Is she viable enough to assert her
constitutional liberty without harming herself and
other persons? Does she want to leave the
marriage and live her life in freedom? If the answer
to these questions is “yes”, Falana should continue
to represent her until she regains her freedom and
her human rights.
If, indeed, she is not well and cannot competently
and safety assert her liberty, Falana should back
off. He should allow Chime and members of the
family to devise the best means of looking after the
poor woman. He should not be a Nosey Parker on a
sensitive matter that is none of his business. He
should not fish in troubled waters in the name of
“human rights”.
What Mrs Chime needs is love, care and attention of
her family members and physicians. She does not
need this unholy and invasive public curiosity. The
family does not need the embarrassment of seeing
the misfortune of their wife, mother, daughter and
sister being commented upon by every Tom, Dick
and Harry of questionable intentions.
We must know when our “do-gooding” is not
required, and take our attention-seeking
shenanigans to the Awaiting Trial cells in the
prisons, where there is an abundant supply of
persons whose human rights have been violated for
years. They will welcome us with open arms and
pray for us and our families for remembering them.
Perhaps, we won’t go there because there is no
political capital to be made from it!
A shocking dereliction of duty!
I watched with numb shock as the Chairman of the
House of Representatives Committee on House
Services, Yakubu Dogara (PDP Bauchi), in his
motion of overriding public interest last week
Thursday, disclosed that President Goodluck
Jonathan has been sitting on 36 bills passed by the
National Assembly and sent to his table for assent.
Section 50(1-4) of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended) mandates the president to either sign
such bills into or withhold his assent.
Withholding assent does not mean ignoring bills if he
does not want to sign them into. It means that he
must notify the Assembly that he was withholding
assent. But President Jonathan simply did neither:
he ignored the bills! The Constitution does not allow
that. The President has so many advisers who
should let him know he is not to do that.
These include the Adviser on Political Matters, the
Senior Special Adviser on National Assembly
Matters and the Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice.
Recently, the President sacked the Adviser on
National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi,
ostensibly for failing to prevail on the National
Assembly not to receive the Abubakar Baraje
faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in
both chambers of the Assembly.
The impression being given here is that these
appointees are only there to feather the President’s
political nest, but when real issues that affect the
lives of Nigerians (such as these neglected bills) are
affected it does not matter.
I agree with Dogara that if these bills are allowed to
remain unattended on the President’s desk the
lawmaking work of the legislators will be in vain and
resources spent on enacting them will be wasted.
Therefore, the Assembly should assume that the
President has vetoed these bills and invoke their
constitutional powers in Section 58 (1 – 5) and
override the his veto.
Perhaps, next time, he will no longer sleep on duty.
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