Three women

I am struck by the fortunes and circumstances of three women in very powerful positions: German Chancellor since 2005, Angela Merkel, wife of our President, Aisha Buhari and British Prime Minister, Theresa May. In a world where top  political leadership  shows only a sprinkling of women, these tough and toughened  women remind me of the damaging limitations of  our political systems when they squeeze women out of  positions that require courage and conviction in moments that call upon the human spirit to step up its capacities to deal complex challenges. Each with her own unique personality and experience, these women share many things in common, yet they are oceans apart in terms of the circumstances that have created their roles in shaping the world they live in. They are not necessarily heroines, just women in positions of power who remind us that courage and the foibles of the human character have no gender.

Angela Merkel made the journey to fame and power the from rigid restrictions of an East German upbringing to the heart of unified Germany’s political heart. She had the intellect and political instinct that allowed a woman to find space and lead men through a period of tremendous growth and stability, and place Germany squarely into a leadership position in Europe. Elected four times by a nation that felt comfortable with her ability to find accommodation at the center, she led a nation with a prominent history for tilting towards extremes and fringes to come to terms with a leadership role that was defined by the values of accommodation. German influence strengthened the European Union, bailed it out of the Euro crisis, pushed hard choices down in weaker European economies, and provided confidence and muscle to Europe during Britain’s confusing exit.

Still, Merkel’s last few years may not be remembered as her best. Her heart was apparently melted by the migrants crisis, and she thought she could re-write the history of a nation famous for its intolerance of the foreign by letting in hundreds of thousands of refugees. Many of her fellow Germans and most of Europe wanted the doors she opened shut in the face of the migrants. Powerful right-wing sentiments and political groups in her country got new impetus to enter into mainstream politics. The lady who built a strong center in Germany is quite likely to be succeeded by right-wing politicians who have no stomach for disciplined conservatism, or a Germany that shows a tendency to harbour the weak and the vulnerable.

Ironically, Merkel has been powerful in leading Europe’s negotiations with Britain, led by another female leader, Theresa May, who had shown an uncommon commitment to wresting something out of unprecedented confusion and deep divisions in her country. The two women have sat across each other countless times as Europe played tough to Britain’s initial euphoria at leaving Europe, then doubt and confusion over what leaving means. May is at the heart of Britain’s biggest political crisis for many decades, following a historic demand made by voters that had little say from politicians. There are many versions of what Brexit means, or should mean, and none of them represents a solid position that could be sold as the intention of the voter who thought he did not want a Britain that gave part of itself to Europe. Her party is deeply divided; the opposition will not give her an inch; Europe will not make things easy for her; the British people have rarely been so divided; all the options are frightening, and Mrs May soldiers on is search of a solution that may include her exit as leader, and more crises in a nation experiencing fundamental disconnect.

Watching Mrs May battle her own party, the opposition, an unsympathetic EU, sections of the public that has tens of difficult choices, you have to wonder what keeps her going. Aisha Buhari, whose husband, already in his 70s, is battling to win a second four-year term to lead Africa’s largest democracy and economy, may or may not be following Theresa May’s travails, but her second public outburst at a tiny circle that she sees holding him back from doing better suggests a level of personal courage that should match Theresa’s and Merkel’s.

Here is a lady cultured to live only as an occasional appendage of her husband, knocking down all traditional boundaries. She had borne and shared all the years of his frustrated ambitions to become President. When he finally became President, she must have expected that the long struggle will produce rapid and popular changes which should resonate with the hopes of the poor that passionately believed in him. When she first spoke out at his limitations, which included the unhealthy and overwhelming influence of a handful of people who had no roles in his journey to the top, the nation was shocked. The story of her earth-shaking denunciation of his record and the circle around him broke while her husband was visiting Chancellor Merkel. Merkel stood, bemused, as he answered a reporter’s question on his reaction to his wife’s comments. His response must have shocked Merkel, but she remained a picture of calmness when he told the world that his wife was only qualified to speak about the bedroom and the kitchen.

Aisha Buhari has again spoken publicly against a cabal holding her husband back, even as she asks Nigerians to give him another term. Her courage is on the scale of Merkel’s decision to change the character of Germany and let the refugees in. It is the courage in May’s painful search for a meaning of Brexit. It is the courage of the woman who believes there are times to stand for something meaningful. Courage is not always a virtue in politics, but without it, human history would have been stuck at the ordinary. In the case of Aisha Buhari, there will be many Nigerians that will wish that she swaps characters with her husband. That will give the nation a bold and courageous leader who will secure it, fight corruption effectively and build the foundations of a strong economy. It will leave her with a tame and tentative disposition as a wife. This cold could be good or bad for a marriage, but it will do less damage in the home than in a leadership position.