CONTROVERSIES are spicy alternatives to the daily tedium of reports of deaths, scandals, government inactions and the pictures of a future tarred with bleakness. When the news broke that Dame Patience Jonathan was promoted permanent secretary in the Bayelsa Civil Service, many were shocked.
Dame had toiled in the service of Bayelsa State unknown to all? No matter how hard she worked, the majority of the views points to the impropriety of her being promoted when she was absent from the service. Is there a way this would have been done without controversy?
It is unlikely, where the subject is Dame Jonathan. Was she a civil servant? Nobody seems to dispute that. Did she earn her promotion? The state government says so, pointing out that her juniors attained the position years before her promotion last week. Should she have been promoted? The uproar drowns any explanations.
Dame Jonathan began her career as a teacher at the Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt and Sports Institute Isake, both in Rivers State. She transferred her service to the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, where she served until 29 May 1999 when her husband became Deputy Governor. Last Thursday she became a permanent secretary.
She has a National Certificate of Education in Mathematics/Biology, which she obtained in 1989 from the Rivers State College of Education. She also has a degree in Biology and Psychology (Education) from the University of Port Harcourt.
The contentions over her promotion raise more questions about the role of the First Lady, whether at state or federal level. Can a First Lady at the same time be a civil servant by applying for leave of absence? If Dame Jonathan's junior had been promoted, did she do any work in the Bayelsa State Civil Service in the past 13 years? How long does a leave of absence last?
It is not enough to think that the controversies arose because it is Dame Jonathan. It is an untreated issue that would come up again and again.
Example is given with Justice Fati Abdulsalam Abubakar, wife of Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar. It is a wrong example.
She was barely away for one year when her husband was in-charge and promptly returned to service. It does not compare with 13 years of absence.
She earned no promotion during the period. Justice Mary Odili's promotion to the Court of Appeal, while she was First Lady in Rivers State, was controversial, but she was not the President's wife.
Until we decide what to do with our First Ladies, cases like Dame Jonathan's will keep disturbing the public. We need patience in these matters, but they must be addressed.
Vanguard Nigeria