Pressure from Lecturers almost forced me to quit my PhD – Patience Jonathan

Patience Jonathan, wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, revealed that she almost gave up on her Doctor of Philosophy program at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education because of intense pressure from her lecturers.

The former first lady recently earned a PhD in Psychology, Guidance and Counselling.

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While speaking during a testimony time at Streams of Joy International Church, the ex-first lady recounted how her academic journey was marked by moments of frustration and self-doubt.

According to her, academic demands, such as repeated assignments and high expectations from lecturers, almost pushed her to abandon her educational pursuit.

“At times, my lecturer would get me angry and say, ‘Go and repeat this page.’

“Shey this man don’t know that I’m old.

“Very soon, I will leave this place and rest because what will I do with it? It’s just to keep the brain moving.

“But to God be the glory. That thing that seemed impossible, God made it possible, and I graduated,” she said.

Jonathan said she thought she won’t make it when she started the programme, having served as Nigeria’s First Lady.

“When I went to pick up my PhD form, I thought I would not make it.

“I said, I have finished my career. I have served as First Lady of Nigeria. What am I going to do with a PhD?

“But God told me to go there. He said, ‘If your children can make it, why can’t you?”

She said during the programme, she was not afraid to ask questions even though she was the oldest student in the classroom.

“I would go to class and sit on the bench with my children. I was the ‘Mama’ among them, and I wasn’t ashamed.

“The teacher would be teaching, I would raise my hand and ask questions because the younger ones would understand immediately, but, as a ‘Mama’, I had to ask questions three times before I understood one thing,” she said.