“First Ladyism”: A Condoned Aspect of Corruption under Successive Governments in Nigeria, 1985 – 2014

The Nigerian first ladyship and its various programmes for empowering women may have, as it has been generally argued, led to improvement in the lives of the targeted female groups. But this is only one aspect which seems to have been exaggerated. This paper argues that a more serious but overlooked aspect of the first ladyship and its many activities is that it has since 1985 constituted a form of corruption which for want of a better term is called “first ladyism”. In the first place, first ladyism, which is a mindset, was a new development involving the existence of a parallel and informal source of influence, exercised largely over the womenfolk, particularly the wives of administrators/governors and chairmen of local governments and leverage with government officials. Secondly, it was the object of a state treatment during visits to parts of the country by all tiers of government and drew on government resources in terms of protocol, security and staffing. Lastly, it was an avenue for accessing funds that not only by far outstripped the cost of the pet projects but were not accounted for. Thus, first ladyism represented a rare opportunity for amassing wealth and influence which was an aberration going by standard governmental practice.