By Tope Oluwasegun
Yes, some women would pawn their intelligence for a bottle of champagne; many more would cheerily shun the grey matter in their brain to engage in a dance of folly – particularly if they are politicians. Folly however, is relative; sometimes, it manifests as familiar idiocies characteristic of the base and depraved; other times, it manifests as indefensible ego tripping, vanities and pleasure-fests characteristic of the rich.
They come in highly sophisticated looks. In their early 60s, they can be said to be advanced in age. They have assumed enviable, exalted positions of authority and responsibility both in private and public life. They answer names that depict nobility, aristocracy and royalty. Their background and familial trait is rooted in honour as their progenitors practically lived the saying that “A good name is better than gold and riches.” One then wonders what has befallen the duo of Kemi Nelson and Jumoke Okoya-Thomas that drove them to throw decency to the dogs and embrace a form of classlessness only found among low lives.
The body of late Sir Molade Okoya-Thomas must have turned in his grave when his daughter, Jumoke, had to be embroiled in street fight with another woman, Kemi, hitherto known for her high values in the society. The battle for supremacy between two of the most powerful Lagos female politicians, South West All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Leader, Kemi and Lagos APC Women Leader, Jumoke was taken a new dimension as the supporters of the two gladiators resorted to open fisticuffs and use of weapons to cause bodily harm on one another.
Images of badly injured loyalists of the politicians and a video showing attack on the properties have been flying around. The women broke all the tenets of modesty and brought immaturity to walk on all its fours. According to a popular politician in Lagos, “Kemi is a paragon of power-drunk politician who brooked no opposition to her views and was unsparing of perceived and real enemies. She forgot the days of small beginnings and lives in a delusion of grandeur”.
The thuggish development has been adjudged the lowest of the lows that have recently pervaded Nigerian politics. It is even funnier that the orgy of violence this time around is being perpetrated by a former 3-time Lagos Commissioner and legislator. Not only is it jejune that these two women leaders could allow seed of discord to germinate and get harvested in such an abysmal manner over a flimsy superiority contest; it speaks volume of their mindset.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who should take credits for the rise of these two women to their present political pedestal, did not have to engage in public show of shame to achieve all he has. The godfather of Lagos politics, who was said to have been seriously miffed at the development, has been an advocate of intellectual engagement for conflict resolution.
The former Lagos governor was reported to have given the warring pair his piece of mind, which was communicated in strong terms, upbraiding and warning. This must have prompted Kemi Nelson to release a statement which attempted to absolve her from the tumult.
If Jumoke’s excesses could be lamely excused on her upbringing, how can one explain Kemi Nelson whose rise politically was one molded in toiling, turmoil and heartbreak? By providence, Kemi, a former nurse, had to be rescued from shackles of poverty and despair through politics especially when her path crossed Tinubu’s.
