History and the holy books alike are replete with examples of what ignoble or positive difference women around power can make.
Jezebel rendered Ahab’s regime irredeemably bloody. Potiphar’s lecherous wife had God-fearing Joseph thrown into jail. Bloodthirsty Herodias clamped John into prison and subsequently set up Herod Antipas to offer John’s head to her daughter on a platter. Queen Mother Athalia almost wiped out all heirs to the throne. In the literatures too, Lady Macbeth’s inordinate ambition in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is the architect of Macbeth’s tragic fall.
Conversely, there were also the virtuous women whose mouths drooped with wisdom and their hearts filled with kindness. Abigail, wife of Nabal, not only saved her wealthy, but foolish husband from destruction in the hands of David, but also turned David away from bloodguilt. Pilate’s wife tried to dissuade Pontius Pilate from sentencing an innocent Jesus to death. Although she did not succeed, at least she told him the truth. At the risk of her own life, Queen Esther brushed aside her opulence, comfort, and beauty to fast and put her marriage to King Ahazarus to positive use by saving the Jews from imminent genocide in Persia.
Dr. (Lady) Nwanneka Ekweremadu, wife of the Deputy President of the Senate and Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Ike Ekweremadu indeed belong to the clan of women who use and influence power positively. Without prejudice to his personal pedigrees, even the Senator himself publicly admits that Lady Nwanneka Ekweremadu is God’s uncommon jewel and the virtuous woman behind the Ikeoha phenomenon.
Born on September 10, 1966, the pretty and graceful woman holds Bachelor of Education (Accountancy/Economics), MBA in Accountancy, plus another MSc. can best be described as the Senator Ekweremadu’s version of Ulysses’ Telemachus in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Ulysses”. About Telemachus, Ulysses says: “This is my son Telemachus/ To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle… /Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere/ Of common duties, decent not to fail/ In offices of tenderness….”
Thus, while the Deputy President of the Senate is busy with the affairs of state, Lady Ekweremadu ensures that she keeps the home front running well. I recall her meeting with the Wives of African Ambassadors in Japan on the sideline of our official visit. The wife of the Nigerian Ambassador, Lady Georgina Agbo, wanted her to share her experience on how to manage the life of a political office holder as a wife. Mrs. Ekwermadu does not believe that abandoning the kitchen to the cooks is how to announce that you have arrived. She not only cooks, but also directs the kitchen affairs, cooks pots of soup by phone even when she is away.
She has also distinguished herself in ensuring that their constituency outreach arm, the Ikeoha Foundation where she is a Trustee, delivers on their vision of unusual transformation.
Under her close watch, therefore, the Foundation has literally given a new lease of life to countless women, widows and youths through scholarships, vocational training, ICT trainings, Adult Literacy programmes, etc.
However, this piece was prompted by academic accomplishment at the Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki where she bagged a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Accountancy. As though in a healthy academic competition, Ikeoha himself has also bagged a PhD in Law at the University of Abuja.
I cannot claim to have known her for ages, but the much I have seen and the testimonies of those who knew her way back in her early life bear witness to the fact that she is an epitome of brain, beauty, and character. Definitely not the type that throws her weight about, her words are healing. She, like her husband, believes that every human being is entitled to some respect inherent in his/her humanity.
One, she taught my bosom friend’s wife at the Federal Government College, Enugu many years ago. Mrs. Onyinye Obeagu (Nee Ogbu) speaks so passionately about her kindness, intellect, and neatness. I mentioned her convocation to an elderly friend. It happened that she was actually Lady Ekweremadu’s principal during her secondary school days. She described her as an intelligent, hardworking, humble, and meticulous woman who was oblivious of her beauty in her school days. She said what baffles her is her ability to still remain the same woman of virtue. She mentioned how at an event a few years back Lady Ekweremadu sighted her and ran to receive her with a warm embrace. Lady Ekweremadu even offered the woman her sit, but the former principal insisted that she should maintain her place at the high table.
For me, I can’t possibly recount all her acts of kindness and humility. She is a boss’ wife who would often call you aside to appreciate your little efforts and to encourage you. She cares down to you family. “Uche, has madam put bed? Don’t worry she would soon ‘climb down’”, she inquired and encouraged countless times when my wife was pregnant with our last baby. She was away when baby Osinachiadimma was baptised/decicated with Senator Ekweremadu as the godfather, but she kept in touch on phone throughout.
This is a woman that throws her inner dinning table open to her husband’s members of staff and ensures everyone is well taken care of. I recall one morning at Enugu when I and two other staff had gone to eat only to discover that nothing had been touched- obviously the husband had not eaten. We made to turn back (you don’t take people for granted), but she said no. The husband later joined us with the usual lighter mood stories.
I also recall the small in-house get together in their Abuja residence on her husband’s 50th birthday. It nevertheless turned out to be a gathering of the high and mighty. I was busy, but she took my wife by the hand and led her into the inner recesses where the “ogas and madams at the top of the society” were.
You would never know the essence of all these until you work in a hostile environment where your sacrificial efforts only earn you abuses and the mere sighting of your relation around is enough to earn you a sack. Your pregnant wife is a distraction to the slavish service you ought to render and your dead relative is worth less than a mere log of wood.
It is not about the food. No one starves in his/her house. It is about humility and the extra mile the duo of Dr. and Dr. (Mrs.) Ekweremadu go to care. It is about a couple that see their staff and their families as equally a member of their family. They are definitely generous. But life is not about Naira and Kobo. After all, as the Igbos would say, you ‘eat’ someone’s face before you eat what he/she offers. Above money, people really want to be valued, cared for, and respected. Sounds simple, but it is indeed a tall order for so many.
The other essence of some of these details is that beyond and above her intellectual prowess, which has been capped up with the successful completion of her doctoral studies, she holds a greater PhD in the hearts of people as one of the kindest products of Creation. She had a humble beginning, no doubt. But, how many people remember humility, service, and sacrifice when they ‘arrive’?.
Congratulations on your academic millage, Your Excellency. Keep being you. Power is transient, but the many positive marks you have made with power will last beyond your lifetime.
•Anichukwu is Special Adviser (Media) to Deputy President of the Senate