Wife of the Borno State Governor, Hajiya Nana Shettima, on Monday explained why she was absent from the meeting organised by Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja, saying she knew she was going to be humiliated at the meeting.
The President’s wife on Monday reportedly accused the Borno Governor’s wife of showing less concern over the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, because she did not attend the meetings called by Mrs. Jonathan at the Villa on Saturday and Sunday.
The Press Secretary to the governor’s wife, Aisha Hassan, in a reaction on Monday said while Dame Patience painted a different picture, Mrs Shettima had actually travelled to Abuja all the way from Maiduguri on April 28 and met the First Lady at the Villa same day.
She said the governor’s wife took two hours to brief her on the schoolgirls abduction as well as her (Mrs Shettima) personal efforts and that of her husband towards securing the release of the
girls.
She said some wives of service chiefs and National women leader of the PDP, Mrs. Kema Chikwe, were present when the Governor’s wife met with the First Lady, noting that the First Lady appreciated the efforts of the Governor’s wife and even consoled her when she noticed that she was obviously depressed.
Hassan noted that it was therefore shocking to the Governor’s wife when she heard Dame Patience on the television accusing the Governor of Borno as being responsible for the abduction.
She said, “It became clear to the Governor’s wife that from the body language of the First Lady and some of her close associates at the Saturday meeting, there was high possibility that the First Lady’s demand for the Governor’s wife on Sunday was to humiliate her, by accusing her husband to her face in the midst of participants at the meeting. She thought it was better she concentrates on her planned trip to Chibok on Monday morning.”
Hassan explained that before her meeting with Dame Patience on April 28, the Governor’s wife had held a meeting with a coalition of women groups that included stakeholders in Chibok; officials of the National Council of Women Societies; wives of security chiefs in Borno State; the Christian Association of Nigeria; and the Federation of Muslim Women of Nigeria.
Others, according to her, include the Association of Christian Widows, Association of Muslim Widows, the National Association of Women Journalists, selected female professionals that included university lecturers, political appointees and the Principal of the attacked school after which a communique was issued as was reported by the media.