Latest reports from Abuja claim that Turai may have seen the writing on the wall and she may be climbing down her high horse.She  is said to be realizing that things may not work out the way she thought. Her strategy has been to elaborately intimidate Acting PresidentGoodluck Jonathan into submission in what appears like an evident power grab to ensure her proxy control of the presidency in the name of Yar’Adua.This is coming amidst reports of cracks within ranks of the Pro YarAdua cabal .Finally, Turai’s delusion of grandeur  has begun to unravel.

There are clear indications now  that Turai YarAdua is a poor student of power.Perhaps she is a better proponent of political intimidation as a weapon of control.But it doesn’t always work as an efficient strategy for grabbing power especially if the other side has superior countervailing force.Thai why Turai may come to grief and lose out after her rabid moves.Sadly her  notion of how to keep power are outdated , thoroughly flawed and out of sync with the political realities and caculations in Nigeria today.That is why  her handling of the return of president YarAdua is earned her odium rather than sympathy.In fact it is fair to say Turai may go down in history as Nigeria’ most unpopular first lady.Yet she is the architect of her misfortunes.

One of her biggest blunders was her assumption  that she could push aside Acting President Goodluck Jonathan .She has clearly done everything to assert herself through intimidation tactics.She is believed to have taken control of YarAdua’s aides by dishing out instruction to them on how to curb the acting president from exercising the powers bestowed on him by the resolutions of the national assembly.From all indications, Turai had thought she could ignore the national assembly and go ahead to pretend that her husband was control while she is the one really in charge.But in actual sense she had been the person who plotted to seize power after she and her husband were virtually expelled from Saudi Arabia by the Saudi Authorities.

Turai’s posturing thus far has shown her as  a woman very headstrong in holding on to the power she never had.She seems to be assuming that she could stand in for her very sick husband.And seem to be sign of this even much earlier.She was reported by a magazine recently as having taken over the president’s seat to preside over a meeting with minister including Rilwan Lukman and others. The meeting which had YarAdua presiding was to discuss oil matters. Sadly YarAdua  collapsed. Later Turai showed up  intent on presiding over the meeting. But Lukman stopped her in his tracks as he stormed out the  venue.Her actions in the last few days indicate she has not learnt her lessons.

Sources believe that Turai’s  blunder was really in her inability to realize that her best  strategy now should have been how to curry favours from Jonathan and ensure a decent exit strategy for her husband and herself .But  out of her poor understanding of the state of affairs she chose to attempt browbeating Jonathan and ministers into submission .Unfortunately for Turai, this failed strategy has not worked  and she is destined to be the loser.Perhaps Turai’s saving grace may be the nature of Jonathan who seems eternally poised like a dove despite every offensive against him.

Newsdiaryonline however is aware that Jonathan also has  a core of very influential northerners who are very determined to ensure that Jonathan succeeds YarAdua.A least two members of the group had said long before YarAdua’s endgame unfolded that everything must be done to ensure Jonathan succeeds YarAdua if it becomes  clear that the Katsina man is incapacitated

It has also emerged that Turai must have been shocked by the opposition from the national assembly leadership especially the senate.Most senators felt insulted by the statement issued by Olusegun Adeniyi which merely referred to Jonathan as vice  president.The fact that a public statement was issued by YarAdua’s handlers with utter disregard to the national assembly resolutions was viewed by the lawmakers as  not just an insult but like drawing the battle- line .So appropriate contacts were made and it became clear to YarAdua handlers that the sick president’s time was over.That was what partly informed the change of heart and the forceful recognition of Jonathan as acting president in a noticeable  vote-face the day after YarAdua returned.

Turai has continued to make mistakes and that seems to have earned her the antagonism of some of their supporters.There appears to be anger among some of YarAdua’s loyalist because no one as at Friday evening has had access to the president who returned earlier in the week under the cover of darkness.Some ministers are said to feel insulted by the attitude of the first lady who has been very impervious to al entreaties to allow people see YarAdua.But Turai’s sympathizers say she is playing out a script crafted  by Saudi doctors who allegedly want access to YarAdua  restricted.Contact with people may worsen the president’s illness ,it is alleged .But that cannot be explain Turai’s stubborn refusal to at least let Jonathan see Yaradua.But reports indicate that Turai’s  political family and hired crowd may have been deserting her.For Turai, the end of her tenure as first lady may be the least celebrated and perhaps the most odious exit of all because she has not displayed humility in times of adversity  falling her husband

Newsdiaryonline learnt that Turai’s woes began in Saudi Arabia.It was learnt that she did not appear ready to come home with her husband yet .Their exit from Jeddah was impromptu because the Saudi government forced her to leave.A reliable source said the Saudi king personally got in touch with Turai and offered his personal  air ambulance to bring YarAdua back to Abuja.The Saudi leaders sent YarAdua back home because they came under pressure from the international community especially the United States which was worried that YarAdua’s absence was destabilizing Nigeria.``And you know the Saudi would rather sacrifice YarAdua  in order to please the  US’’ a knowledgeable source said.In effect ,YarAdua’s stay in Jeddah had become a source of diplomatic embarrasssment to Saudi Arabia.That is why they sent the president and his wife home to avert diplomatic crisis.The Saudi feeling was worsened by the growing feeing by Nigerians that the King was blocking access to YarAdua.The Saudi leaders denied this charge and felt there was no need to plunge further down with an ailing leader.What all of this means is that YarAdua and Turai were not quit ready to return home at the time they did.

Perhaps Turai’s blunders may  be a reflection of her confused state of mind .But she has not helped her husband and herself to win sympathies either  with her reckless attempt at power grab in a complex country like Nigeria.How the drama in Aso Rock will end remains far from certain.But one fact is certain, Turai will not be in charge.

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