Patience Jonathan

Patience Jonathan
First Lady of Nigeria
In office 5 May 2010 – 29 May 2015
Preceded by	Turai Yar'Adua
Succeeded by	Aisha Buhari
Personal details
Born	25 October 1957 (age 57) Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Spouse(s)	Goodluck Jonathan
Residence	Old GRA, Port Harcourt[1][2]
Alma mater	University of Port Harcourt

Patience Faka Jonathan (born 25 October 1957) is a former First Lady of Nigeria and the wife of former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. She has served as a permanent secretary in her native Bayelsa State.^[3]

Education

Born in Port Harcourt, she earned her school certificate in 1976, and passed the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) in 1980. In 1989, she obtained the National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Mathematics and Biology from the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Port Harcourt. She then proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt and studied for a B.Ed in Biology and Psychology. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Portharcourt ^[4][5]

Career

Jonathan started her career as a teacher at the Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt and Sports Institute Isake. She then moved to the banking sector in 1997, where she established the first community bank in Port Harcourt called the Akpo Community Bank. She served as Marketing Manager of Imiete Community Bank. She returned to the classroom briefly again as a teacher. Eventually she was transferred to the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, where she served until 29 May 1999 when her husband became the Deputy Governor of the state. On 12 July 2012, she was appointed as permanent secretary in Bayelsa state by a Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, who was helped to his governorship position by her husband (who was then the incumbent President).^[6] The appointment was unique considering she had been on leave from the civil service for over 13 years, since her husband became deputy governor in 1999,^[7][8] and some critics argued it was a national embarrassment^[9] highlighting there was no merit or evidence of any recent performance to warrant a promotion to the peak of the civil service.

She and her husband have two children.

Philanthropic work

Jonathan has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally for her philanthropic work and political pragmatism. She received the "Beyond The Tears" International Humanitarian Award New York, USA, in 2008,^[4] for her role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS; the African Goodwill Ambassador Award (Los Angeles, USA, 2008) and the recipient of the "Wind of Change" Award from the South/South Women’s Organization.

When Goodluck Jonathan served as Governor between 2005 and 2007, Patience Jonathan served the state in the capacity of the first Lady of Bayelsa State. During this period, she founded many philanthropic and women empowerment programs, among them are the A-Aruere Reachout Foundation (AARF),^[10] which she set up to improve the status and earning capacity of Nigerian women and youths. The foundation already has its focus on supporting and assisting children with heart-related problems.

Other

Jonathan in 2012.

It was announced 4 September 2012, that she was hospitalized in Germany following a severe bout of food poisoning that lasted for days. Jonathan fell sick about 10 days earlier, following her hosting of a summit of first ladies from across Africa. Jonathan was discharged from the Horst Schmidt Klinik in Wiesbaden on 2 October 2012.^[11][12] When the national media noticed her unusual disappearance from public view, the approach of her office was to initially deflect attention by denying she was in Germany to utilize the high quality healthcare provision of the country. Her spokesman, Ayo Osinlu, released a statement stating that she had only gone to Germany "to take time off to rest" and not for medical purposes. This was to avoid highlighting the presidential family were avoiding using the low quality healthcare system provided for the Nigerian citizens and prefer higher quality foreign provisions for themselves at taxpayers expense when needed.^[13]

Patience Jonathan was involved in controversy during the crisis over 230 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria. After a meeting she convened in May 2014 with representatives of the Chibok community, whose children had been abducted, there were reports that one of the leaders - Naomi Mutah - had been detained by police. It was alleged that Mrs Jonathan had reportedly felt slighted that the mothers of the abducted girls had sent Ms Mutah to the meeting. Immediately after the meeting, Ms Mutah was taken to a police station and held. Pogo Bitrus, another Chibok community leader, described the detention as 'unfortunate' and 'insensitive', and said he hoped Mrs Jonathan would soon 'realize her mistake'. Mrs Jonathan has no constitutional power to order arrests. BBC News reported another community leader, Saratu Angus Ndirpaya, as saying that Mrs Jonathan accused the activists of fabricating the abductions to give the government a bad name. It reported that she also said the First Lady accused them of supporting Boko Haram.^[14]

See also

• List of people from Port Harcourt

References