Patience Jonathan Is 56 Years Today (Her Profile By Wikipedia)

Patience Faka Jonathan (born 25 October 1957) is the current First Lady of Nigeria and a permanent secretary in her native Bayelsa state. She is married to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan

Education

Born in Port Harcourt, she earned her school certificate in 1976, and passed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) 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.

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 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 a 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).^[4] The appointment caused national outrage and ridicule considering she had been on leave from the civil service for over 13 years, since her husband became deputy governor in 1999,^[5][6] and some critics argued it was a national embarrassment^[7] 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. There are some general speculation that the two children are not biological children of one of the parents (usually with the rumour that Mrs Jonathan has fertility issues),^[8] the Jonathans have not yet confirmed or denied these speculations.

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,^[2] 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),^[9] 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.

Controversies

In 2006, Jonathan came under investigation for money laundering. Anti-corruption officials alleged that she tried to launder some $13.5m (£8.5m).^[10] Jonathan, then the First Lady of Bayelsa, was taken into custody at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.^[11] She was not convicted of any crime and officials insist that the case is an "old one".^[10]

Jonathan also caused outrage^[12] when she sought $26m (N1.4bn) to build a 'First Lady’s Mission Building' (to act as a centre for her meetings with other African First Ladies) in a country with high poverty rates and low HDI.^[13][14]

Other

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 a summit of first ladies from across Africa.^[15] When the national media noticed her unusual disappearance from public view, the approach of her office was to initially lie to the taxpayers by denying she was in Germany to utilize the high quality healthcare provision of the country. Her spokesman, Ayo Osinlu, released a statement lying 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.^[16]

Jonathan was discharged from the Horst Schmidt Klinik in Wiesbaden on 2 October 2012.^[17]

Patience Jonathan is usually and frequently ridiculed by the populace for her inability to speak with good English grammar (the nation's official language) considering she worked in the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education before her husband became Deputy Governor and considering she was appointed to the very high senior civil service position of permanent secretary in her native Bayelsa state.^[18][19][20]The most notable of the ridiculing was when she publicly pronounced "Umbrella" (the logo of her husband's political party, PDP) as "Umblerra" during an election campaign.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_Jonathan