NATASHA: THE SCENT OF A WOMAN

The forces, known and unknown, that are against the recently suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Kogi Central senatorial zone in Kogi State, are enormous. So far, she has been able to jump over both natural and artificial barricades erected on her way to “stardom”, achieving everything and anything she set out to do or so it seems.

Her life as a legislator, more than her other female colleagues, has drawn more controversy than usual, especially in recent times. While many have rightfully or wrongfully attributed this to her sheer bravado and wits, others think her excessive knack for or ability to dramatise every unfavourable condition to her advantage, given her visibility, is the reason for her lambent dispositions all the time.

In the last election, she confronted former governor Yahaya Bello in a fight for supremacy with Bello deploying unconventional means to stop the blazing Amazon, by practically digging out the road that links voters to Senator Natasha’s immediate constituency. Yet she won not only the election but the intellection of survival and the growing sympathy of many who felt she was unjustifiably fought against for being a woman.

In the melee that led to her being suspended from the hallowed chambers of the Nigerian upper legislative arm, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan had her legislative and personal conduct examined by every political watcher, analyst, colleague and fellow Nigerian vis-a-vis the sanctions dished out to her.

While the Senate insists on the fact that she is being punished for her bad conduct by going against the rules of the House, Natasha elects to tell the world that her male colleagues did that to quiet a growing but lone female voice in a legislative chamber dominated by male chauvinists who do not want to listen to her side of the story.

That ugly side of the story hasn’t stopped being uglier by the day as Natasha kept adding to the story at every given opportunity, making the story against her detractor in-chief, dirtier and messier. She took to international fora and Terrestrial TV to tell her story of her alleged sexual harassment, victimization, oppression and marginalization.

It is dangerous to go into a fisticuff with a woman who doesn’t look back. A bold woman, unabashed, daringly expeditious and unrelenting. Perhaps, this explains the dramatic appearance of Senator Natasha in her Constituency on Monday via the air with a Chopper, when the roads were barricaded and a gubernatorial “instruction” given that banned public gatherings and rallies until further notice.

Her defiant appearance in her constituency was as dramatic as the outcome of her recall. There’s no doubt that she is being fought against both from within her state and outside her state. Why would someone who is faced with a recall bid by her  “constituents” be prevented from meeting with the constituents for a fair hearing and explanation? To assume that the gubernatorial instruction wasn’t targeted at the embattled senator is to play the Ostrich.

The whole scenario is beginning to look melodramatic with all accusing fingers pointing to one oscillating point. Just like Martin Brest’s 1992 American drama titled: “Scent Of a Woman”, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s story is about seizing opportunities and not being afraid to “take chances” .

 It is a continuous story that takes you through a sad, humourous, powerful, politically intriguing, fearful but emotional journey to the unknown but imagined. It is the story of high and resolute political forces determined to offensively odorize the ubiquitous scent of a woman. We’re waiting and watching.

 
Austen Akhagbeme, Abuja