Nigeria's first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan on Tuesday declared that two former first ladies; Maryam Abacha and Maryam Babaginda were are role models; THE CABLE reports.

Speaking at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP women rally in Anambra, Dame Jonathan said, ''I am fighting a course that her excellency, Maryam Abacha fought. She was the one that went to Beijign conference (the fourth world conference on women, which held in 1995) and asked for 30 percent affirmative action and when she came back it was buried.

''Our mother Maryam Babaginda, may her soul rest in peace, is also a woman that Nigeria women would never forget. You remember Better life (Better Life for Rural Women, an initiative of Maryam Babangida). She suffered a lot for Nigerian women. So these two women are my role models and I am carrying the cross they have left behind for me. I have come to complete the fight for the women of Nigeria to be free and Nigeria women I promise that I will not disappoint you''.