I Was Dead For Seven Days, But… -Patience Jonathan

First Lady, Patience Jonathan, yesterday opened up on her controversial medical trip last year, admitting for the first time she ailed terribly and was close to dying. Mrs. Jonathan, who spoke at a special thanksgiving service at the Aso Rock Chapel where the first family worships, said she underwent multiple surgical operations and at some point her doctors lost hope after she “passed out for more than a week.” “It was not an easy experience for me,” Mrs. Jonathan told the congregation which included senior government officials.

“I actually died. I passed out for more than a week. My intestine and tummy were opened.” “I am not Lazarus but my experience was similar to his. My doctors said all hope was lost. It was God himself in His infinite mercy that said I will return to Nigeria. God woke me up after seven days,” she narrated. Mrs. Jonathan’s remarks at the church service, was the first time the presidency would admit the First Lady was seriously sick as widely speculated in 2012. Mrs. Jonathan was on admission at the Horst Schmidt Klinik in Germany for an undisclosed ailment although multiple reports suggested she was treated for lungs and abdominal problems.

While the news circulated, the presidency ensured an anxious public remained in the dark about her condition, repeatedly insisting Mrs. Jonathan travelled for a “deserved rest”. The thanksgiving service was delayed for two months, after the initial schedule was moved due to the helicopter crash which claimed the lives of former Governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa, and the former National Security Adviser, Owoeye Azazi. President Goodluck Jonathan, ministers and top government functionaries attended the event on Sunday. During a stirring session, the First Lady narrated how she went through “hell” while in hospital and said she had dedicated her life to serving the needy.

“It is the Lord’s doing that I returned alive,” she said. “When God says yes, nobody can say no. People are always afraid of operation (surgery). But in my own case, while my travail lasted, I was begging for it after the third operation because I was going to the theatre every day. It was God who saw me through. I did eight or nine operations within one month.” While she lay dying in Germany, friends and associates who hoped she would not be making it back to Nigeria with life, scrambled for her properties, selling those they could,” Mrs. Jonathan said. She accused some of those she trusted of leaking information to the public that she had passed on.

“I know that some people somehow leaked the information that I was dead. They are people that I trust and rely on. To them, I was dead and I would never return to the country alive,” she said. “Some of them even sold my things off. “I won’t say everything here.” She said she believed she had not completed her assignment on earth, which was why God spared her. “It was not an easy one. The day I came back, I said God I have nothing to say, I offer myself to you. I will be doing things that will touch the lives of the less privileged. God gave me a second chance because I reached there. He knew I had not completed the assignments He gave me that was why I was sent back,” the First Lady said.

About 5000 guests, including 18 state governors, had overrun Abuja for a lavish thanksgiving party thrown for Nigeria’s First Lady, Patience Jonathan, at a cost of N500 million.

Although she had previously denied being in hospital in Germany, Mrs. Jonathan opened up yesterday at a special service at the Aso Rock Chapel, stunning worshippers with the admission her medical condition had been very serious.

“I actually died,” Premium Times quoted her as testifying. “I passed out for more than a week. My intestine and tummy were opened.”

She said her doctors had actually given up hope, although she did not specify her diagnosis. “It was God himself in His infinite mercy that said I will return to Nigeria. God woke me up after seven days.”

During her six weeks away from Nigeria last year, the presidency refused to say anything to the country about her condition. Upon her return to Abuja on October 17, Mrs. Jonathan denied having been in any hospital. “I don’t even know that hospital they are talking about…” she said on that occasion. “I do not have any terminal illness or cosmetic surgery.”

For today’s thanksgiving merriment, an organising committee chaired by Mr. John Kennedy Okpara raised over N500m, which would most likely be presented to Mrs. Jonathan as a gift, as the presidency is bankrolling the event.

The thanksgiving, which is being broadcast live on the National Television Authority’s (NTA) local and international channels, has such dignitaries as President Goodluck Jonathan; Vice President Namadi Sambo and his wife, Haj Amina; former Ghana President John Agyekum Kufour; former Nigeria Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon; and Aisha Babangida, who is representing her ailing father and former military president, General Ibrahim Bademasi Babangida.

Also in attendance are members of the Federal Executive Council; wives of state governors; the wife of Senate President; the Deputy Senate President; Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha; members of the National Assembly; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; the Head of the Federal Civil Service, Alhaji Bello Sali; the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria; and several members of the international community.

The function, which commenced at 3p.m. Nigerian time, is expected to go on into the late evening.

There were early invitations for 3,000 people, but the Banquet Hall of State House was quickly filled to capacity, with several guests unable to find a place to sit down.

Several trucks bearing gifts from government officials and contractors lined the streets of the presidential villa waiting to deliver gifts to the First Lady.

Our reporter said luxury official cars parked everywhere around the Presidential Villa, from the Supreme Court to the Villa in Asokoro area of Abuja. Many of the guests parked their cars at the Eagle Square, where buses were provided to convey them to the venue of the event.

In 2012, Mrs. Jonathan suddenly became ill and was evacuated in a medical emergency to Germany.

The presidency neither confirmed nor denied any of the reports, until Mrs. Jonathan, upon her return, issued her own denial.

In a November 2012 Media Chat, President Jonathan told reporters his wife had been ill and needed treatment.

Four weeks ago, , Mrs. Jonathan was again flown out to Germany on another emergency

A scheduled appearance at a presidential event for foreign ambassadors was cancelled.

In her church testimony yesterday, an apparently humbled Mrs. Jonathan revealed the extent of her suffering, including having “eight or nine operations” within a period of one month.

Of the future, she said, “I will be doing things that will touch the lives of the less privileged. God gave me a second chance because I reached there. He knew I had not completed the assignments He gave me that was why I was sent back.”

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan says the recovery of his wife, Patience from a life-threatening illness ends the mystery of death of a leader or spouse at the Presidential Villa.

Jonathan, said that the insinuation of the mystery of death at the seat of power in Aso Rock was rife during his wife’s illness.

He expressed gratitude to God for keeping the life of his wife, saying, “If anything had happened, there would have been different stories from different people, false prophets and many other things would have followed.

“You all know I came to the state house through providence and divine arrangement but because of past ugly coincidences, people said one of us will go. None of us will die.

“We all know we will die someday but the best time to die is not when you are serving your nation.

“Today is a special day for me, all I can say is a special song in my local dialect, that’s the only expression I have, the first two lines of the song interprets “God I thank you, for all you have done,’’ Jonathan said.

He further predicted that the year would be a good one which had already began with the recent performance of the Super Eagles at the AFCON tournament.

In her address, the First Lady, who said she was confident that it was the various intercessory prayers by some Nigerians on her behalf that worked effectively for her, said that Nigerians should learn to lift their leaders in prayers always so that things would go according to God’s plan for everyone.

“We must continue to regard Aso Rock Villa properly as our nation’s centre of power and authority and not the devil’s playground. It is our spiritual duty to sanctify and declare it the city of God where only the will of God will prevail.’’

Quoting the scriptures from 1st Corinthians 13, which says “where there is love, everything is possible’’, she appealed to all Nigerians to “show love to one another and continually preach the gospel of love, this is because in an atmosphere of love, there will be peace and progress.’’

L-R: Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, Rivers State Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi and his Deputy, Engr Tele Ikuru, at the stakeholders meeting held at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Civic Centre for the Good Governance Team, last Saturday.