When Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne, she was only seventeen. She reigned as Queen Philopator and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC, and died at the age of 39. She was married although her choice of partner, her brother, remains a contentious issue any day.
What is unarguable however is that Cleopatra VII reigned supreme, effortlessly relegating her husband to the background in the full efflorescence of her beauty, intellect and charm.
Although, unlike Cleopatra, they did not marry their brothers, certain prominent members of Nigeria’s league of alpha females are notable for their capacity to relegate their husbands and consign them to the ‘other room.’
To some they are autocrat, ruthless in their desire to attain self actualisation and achieve power. To others they are driven women doing a “man’s job.” More importantly, their emergence as leading women in their marriages becomes immutable reality in an increasingly dynamic society of fast-mutating gender relations.
Makes one wonder how their husbands are faring with them at the home front. These women could be mistaken to be the head of the relationship, dominant inside and outside the bedroom. You couldn’t be wrong to think that they take all the major decisions at the home front.
They are very successful in their own right. They are top executives who have mastered the art of taming their husbands as they tame male rivals in the boardroom. They are Kemi Adeosun, Bola Adesola of Standard chartered bank, Sola Borha, among others.
