Yesterday during a church
farewell service in honour of the Jonathan family at the Aso chapel, wife of
our President Dame Patience Jonathan disclosed that during the re-election
campaign for the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, she battled with
another round of ill-health
PUNCH reports...
The President’s wife said before
she left the German hospital after the operation, she was billed for another in
a bigger hospital immediately after the elections but that God miraculously
healed her.
She said after her husband lost
his re-election bid, she returned to Germany for the surgery. According to her,
she was about to be taken into the theatre when doctors decided to carry out
another round of checks on her.
She said: “During the last campaign period, the devil struck again.
I was in pain and was rushed to the hospital in January and the doctors told
me, ‘mama, you have to go for a major operation now now.’ What again? I asked.
The campaign was still going on and I wondered how we were going to explain to
Nigerians.
“You know that even when you go
for medical check-up, they will be writing in newspapers, saying all sorts of
things”.
“I said my husband will continue
with his campaign until the last day. That was how I went in for the first
major operation (surgery) in the end of January. By God’s grace, I went for the
operation (surgery) and came out. On my return from there, I went straight to the campaign ground.
“They said to me when I was leaving
the hospital: ‘mama, there is another bigger operation that you have to go in
for again. This one will not be in this hospital. This hospital is too small
for the type of operation you need when you come back. You have to go to a
bigger hospital.’
“I said ‘ha! While will you tear my
body again after I had done 12 operations within one month last year?
“I said my God will see me
through because he created me for a purpose. I told my prayer partner to
continue praying for me. I said to myself that I will never be used for a sacrifice.
“I was booked for the operation
in a bigger hospital and I was asked to go back to Nigeria and return after the
campaign. They gave me a date. When I went back, I paid for everything and just
when I was to be taken into the theatre, the doctors said, ‘let’s check her again.’
“By then, my husband had lost the
election. I had packed out of the Villa. Behold! I went to four hospitals again
and the thing was said to have vanished. My doctors were surprised; they didn’t
believe that that could happen.”
Mrs. Jonathan recalled that many
people thought it had ended for her when she went through 12 surgeries about
two years ago.
She said although she was “dead,”
God sent her back to complete her work.
But the President’s wife added
that her husband’s electoral loss was an indication to her that she had
completed the work given her by God.
She said, “I thank God for
keeping me alive today. God is so wonderful. Just two years ago, I went through
operations upon operations. Within one month, I passed through 12 operations.
“Some people said I was dead,
yes, I was dead but God resurrected me.
“God told me, ‘my daughter, go
back, I will give you a second chance, go and finish your work.’
“And since my husband lost the
election, I believe God has made me to finish the work.”
Mrs. Jonathan said she would
forever remain thankful to God because many people had prophesied that either
her or the President would not leave the Presidential Villa alive.
She recalled that that was what
happened in the case of Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, wife of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, who died while her husband was still in office.
She said it was gladdening that
she and her husband would be leaving the Villa on May 29 hale and hearty.
Mrs. Jonathan said she would
continue to thank God for His mercies because she never dreamt of becoming a
wife of a deputy governor much less of a President’s wife.
She said, “I never thought in my life that I
will be First Lady. I never dreamt of being the wife of a deputy governor
because my husband was not a politician. But God made it possible and God
lifted us up from deputy governorship position and here we are.
“We should be grateful to God for
what he has done. To me and my family, we praise God.
“To our followers, today, it
might not be too good but I want them to be grateful to God because they have
followed us for a long time from deputy governor, governor, Vice President to
President.
“You know that no position is for
a life- time. There is no permanent thing so I want you to take it in good
faith that it is the will of God. You should be praising God. God is really
wonderful.”
Mrs. Jonathan disclosed that some
unnamed persons had been visiting her since the March 28 presidential election
with the hope that they would meet her in a mourning mood.
Thereafter, Mrs. Jonathan danced
forward for a special thanksgiving to God for sparing her life throughout their
stay in the Villa despite her sickness.
Credit: PUNCH
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