REVEALED: Patience Jonathan Sick Again?

Mrs. Patience Jonathan receiving the award in Paris

SaharaReporters has learned that Nigeria's First Lady, Patience Jonathan, is sick again and is shuttling between Spain and Germany in search of treatment. A source also told SaharaReporters that the First Lady was also contemplating receiving medical treatment from a US hospital.

Mrs. Jonathan’s renewed health woes have accounted for her absence from several official events in Abuja and her home state of Bayelsa State over the last few days. A few days ago, Mrs. Jonathan made a quiet exit from Abuja en route to France where she was to allegedly receive some unspecified award. However, a source within the Presidency told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Jonathan’s trip to France was a ploy to enable her to shop for new doctors in Europe for her deteriorating health.

A source disclosed that she left France for Spain. The same source disclosed that the First Lady was considering being moved to a US hospital today. However, a source in the US who is close to the First Family told SaharaReporters that he was “not heard from the first lady regarding her trip to the US.”

Ayo Osinlu, a spokesman of the First Lady, told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Jonathan was in Europe in order to care for an ailing elderly woman who helped raise the First Lady. He failed to disclose the specific European nation where Mrs. Jonathan’s foster mother is hospitalized.

During Mrs. Jonathan’s first extended medical sojourn in Germany, Mr. Osinlu had misled reporters by declaring that the First Lady was merely vacationing abroad after what he described as a series of grueling official functions, including the hosting of a conference of African First Ladies.

Mrs. Jonathan was noticeably absent from a Friday church service organized at the presidential villa yesterday as part of Easter celebrations. She was also missing at another key event where  her Africa First Ladies Peace Mission donated relief material to the war-torn country of Mali. An aide of the First Lady reported that a minister, Ms. Jumoke Akinjide, represented Mrs. Jonathan at the event where relief material was donated to Mali.

During the church service at the Presidential Villa, President Jonathan was flanked by his elderly mother, Eunice Jonathan, as well as Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and Ndudi Elumelu, a member of the House of Representatives indicted for corruption in power sector projects. Mrs. Alison-Madueke, who has been romantically linked to Mr. Jonathan, wore a large diamond ring at the church service.

One of the last times Mrs. Jonathan was seen in public was on her return from an official visit to Cote d’Ivoire on March 2, 2013. She later made a brief visit to Lagos where she attended a dinner organized for Nollywood stars. Afterwards, she was sighted in Paris where she received the “Global Women Leader for Peace Award 2013.” Since receiving the award on March 17, the First Lady has not been seen in any official photos released from the Presidency.

Her trip to Paris coincided with her husband’s official visit to Equatorial Guinea. Mr. Jonathan was accompanied on that official visit by two female ministers, Stella Oduah of Aviation and Ms. Diezani of Petroleum.

A source in Abuja said Mrs. Jonathan had not been seen in public for close to a week and half, including during a breakfast meeting with the members of the House of Representatives led by Leo Ogor on March 21, 2013.

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Jonathan was at the center of an obscene event where she loquaciously celebrated her ostensible “resurrection from the dead” after dying for more than a week. Some 5,000 guests attended the event at the villa which was televised live, with Pastor Oritsejafor presiding. At the event, Mrs. Jonathan claimed to have undergone several surgeries during her medical sojourn in Germany. The extended medical visit, which was first reported by Saharareporters, cost Nigeria close to 5 million Euros in medical expenses. Mrs. Jonathan’s aides had initially passed off her medical trip as a vacation. On her return from Germany, Mrs. Jonathan had also denied ever going for medical treatment.

Saharareporters contacted several presidential aides seeking information about Mrs. Jonathan’s whereabouts, but they failed to return our reporters’ phone calls and text messages.

Source: Sahara Reporters

UPDATE: Why Patience Jonathan Traveled

The office of the first lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, Monday, said the visit of the first lady to Germany and other European countries was for routine medical check up as well as to visit her ailing mother and there is no need for negative insinuation as is being done in the media.

A statement by the Special Assistant to the first lady Ayo Osinlu Monday urged Nigerians to develop the habit of praying for their leaders as is done in other countries.

According to the aide of the first lady, “It is unfortunate that again, some media houses have allowed themselves to be used by dedicated mischief makers against the basic tenet of professional journalism, which regards truth as sacred.

He noted that “for the avoidance of doubts and ambiguities, we wish to state that the First Lady travelled to Dubai, after which she proceeded to Paris, France, to participate in the 1st Green Women Conference, which took place in Paris on March 17, 2013 where she received the 2013 Global Women Leaders’ Award for Peace.

“She thereafter proceeded to Italy from where she went to Germany to see her mother, Mama Sisi, who is currently receiving medical attention.

“The First Lady is spending sometime overseeing the management of her mother’s condition.

“She is also using the opportunity to spend quality time with her holidaying children before they return to school, as they are with her to see their grandmother.

“It is notable that Her Excellency has a history of visiting the hospital in Germany even before she became the First Lady, thus making her medical trips routine.

It is also instructive to state that medical experts have recommended that every human being should undergo medical check up every six months, even if not suffering ill health.

“Therefore,  hospital visitations of our leaders should not become leading media issues or attract disrespectful comments, just as the current circumstances of  former President Mandela and other African leaders in similar situations, and even those who died, have not attracted negative comments from their people.

“While urging a more charitable disposition towards one another as our brothers’ keepers, we wish to express our appreciation for the sincere interests of those who have shown genuine concern through their inquiries” he said.

Source: Vanguard