She is Dame Patience Fakabelema Jonathan (nee Oba). Her middle name is Fakabelema, often shortened to Faka, meaning ‘Unending Blessings’. As Chairperson of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, she is often referred to as the ‘Dame of Africa’.
DOB: Dame Patience was born in Port Harcourt on October 25, 1957 while the don who later became President was born nearly a month later, precisely November 20, 1957.
Title: Patience Jonathan bears the title ‘Dame’ because she was honoured with the Knighthood of the Anglican Church.
Hobbies: They include reading, writing, travelling and swimming.
Education. She holds a National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Mathematics & Biology from the Rivers State College of Education and later bagged a degree from the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) in Biology & Psychology.
Family. Her marriage with the President is blessed with two children: a boy, Ariwera Adolphus and a girl, Aruabi.
Domestics: You may not believe this, but she still cooks for Mr President. That is despite her busy schedule especially the fact that she is also a Permanent Secretary in the civil service of Bayelsa State. She was appointed a Perm Sec after 13 years leave from the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education.
Meeting: When both met, it was love at first sight. Then Patience Oba was a student at the Rivers State College of Education (now Rivers State University of Education, Rumuolumeni). He was a lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences. Of course, from that meeting, one thing led to the other, and both fell in love. Today, the rest, as they say, is history. Interestingly, that lecturer of yesterday is now the President of the most populous black nation in the world.
Honours: Dame Patience holds countless honourary degrees and titles including Honorary doctorate degree in Social Welfare Administration from the Hansei University in South Korea.
Dame Patience once bagged a University honourary degree while on sick bed in Germany. In September last year, she was awarded an honorary degree by the Delta State University, Abraka, despite the fact that she was not in the country at the time.
Parentage: She was born into the family of Chief Lazarus Iwari-Oba but she lost her mother at a tender age. She was later raised by her step-mother, Charity Oba also known as Mama Sisi, who died in July this year, in a road accident along the East-West Road between Bayelsa and Rivers State.
Career: Dame Patience was once a banker. Although she started out as a teacher at Stella Maris College in Port Harcourt, she later veered briefly into the banking sector, establishing Akpo Community Bank in 1997, the first of its kind in Port Harcourt, and later served as the Marketing Manager of Imieto Community Bank.
Ancestry: Her hometown is Okrika, precisely Oba-Ama Community in Okrika, a port town in Rivers State. It is known as a base for the sale of second-hand clothes, and the name Okrika for those who are familiar with ‘Bend Down Select’ and ‘Tokunbo’ clothes is an attestation to that.
Charity: Like other first ladies before her, Dame Patience also has a non-governmental organization called Aruera Reachout Foundation which is said to focus on the needy, the poor and destitute, with emphasis on women and children.
Wardrobe: Fashion buffs say the First Lady is a ‘super dresser’. She is always smart and attractive.
Health. In February this year, at a reception/thanksgiving in her honour, she stated that while away in Germany for medicals, she was operated nine times in one month, adding that it was a miracle that she survived. She likened her case to that of Lazarus in the Bible.
Alias: She was once called ‘Mama Ice Cream’. According to Baridah Job Karabah, their former houseboy, her nickname back in the day was ‘Mama Ice Cream’ (and that of the President was simply ‘Oga Joe’). That was because she used to sell ice cream. Dr Goodluck Jonathan was by that time a Senior Lecturer at the Rivers State College of Education. Of course, Dame Pateince also had a poultry farm.
New alias: Recently, precisely at the inauguration of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Maternal and Child Health otherwise known as MAMA Project, the First Lady said henceforth her name (alias)would be Mama Peace.
She has her own seal of office. Yes, she has her own seal and she uses it during public functions.
Friendship. Dame Patience is quite a sociable woman, and she is usually seen with her retinue of friends, including Hajia Bola Shagaya, one of the richest women in Africa; Hajia Amina Namadi Sambo, wife of the Vice President whom she calls her ‘twin sister’; Helen Mark, wife of the Senate President (she once referred to her as her ‘younger friend’); and Yemisi Suswam, wife of the Governor of Benue State.
Culled from Daily Newswatch
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