Two things that were not known to the public about President Goodluck Jonathan were revealed in the course of the week. First was the divine intervention that kept him and his only surviving sibling out of nine children of his parents.
The other is his unhidden love for his wife which he publicly displayed on her arrival from Germany.
The week started off in the Presidency with the President telling all who cared to hear that his personal experience was the reason for his desire to end child and maternal mortality in the country.
The occasion was the launch of save one million lives programme, where the country also got a boost of $25m from the Norwegian government. Jonathan, for the first time, revealed that his mother Eunice had nine children. Out of these, only he and his elder sister made it through infancy stage while the rest seven died in infancy.
“On the issue of saving lives of women and children I’m passionate because my mother had nine of us but seven died as infants with my elder sister and I surviving. That I’m alive today is not because of any intervention but by God’s hand.”
However, the return of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan happened to be the biggest event in the Presidency in the past week. Her arrival which was carnival- like outshone every other event that took place in the Presidency.
She went out of the country unannounced but her return was with fanfare. The drum was rolled out for her. Members of the cabinet, albeit, female ministers were on hand to welcome her back into the country after over one month stay in Germany.
No doubt, President Goodluck Jonathan and, by extension, the Presidency missed her.
There was a burst of excitement at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja where the Presidential jet that brought her back landed.
Dame Patience threw her two hands up in the air as the crowd of government officials, governors’ wives, politicians and women groups hailed her arrival.
Her face beamed with a smile, glittering white beads dangling from her neck. The First Lady spoke of her joy to be home.
Though she was said to have gone on a medical trip, Mrs. Jonathan denied visiting any hospital.
She was received with more cheers at the Presidential Villa. At the head of the reception party was President Jonathan, with whom the First Lady was locked in a long embrace. All smiles, Dr. Jonathan planted a kiss on his wife’s face. The crowd cheered.
Members of the Presidential household, including the President’s mother Eunice and Mrs. Jonathan’s children, wore T-shirts with images of the First Lady.
Authorities have refused to say publicly why Mrs. Jonathan left the country. But an official said she fell ill with “food poisoning” and needed to be hospitalised in Germany. This was followed by various speculations about all kinds of ailments she was believed to be suffering from.
She was said to be undergoing treatment at Horst Schmidt Klinic in Wiesbanden, Germany. This she denied.
The return of the First Lady was not the only noteworthy event that shaped activities of the Presidency in the past week as the President also visited some of the flooded areas in the country, including his home town, Otueke, Bayelsa State where the flood showed no iota of respect for the President. His house was also submerged like any other person’s in the state. The water, according to the President, is up to the window level.
The President also summoned all stakeholders in states with records of fresh cases of polio to a meeting at the Presidential Villa where he told the gathering which had in attendance governors and local government chairmen of the affected states that there will be no sleep until the scourge is eradicated; adding that the country does not have any reasonable excuse to still be suffering from the scourge.
Another of the major news at the Presidency was the hint of the possibility of Nigerians in the Diaspora voting in the 2015 general elections. The President gave the hint in Niamey when he addressed Nigerians living in Niger Republic during his working visit to the West African country.
The National Assembly is currently looking at the possibility of amending the 1999 Constitution and the President says the final decision on Nigerians in the Diaspora voting would be taken in 2013 when the amendment process is expected to be completed.
According to the President, a proposal from the Presidency is already before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enable it study and look at the possibilities of making it happen.
The President said he proposed Diaspora voting for Presidential and Governorship elections only because it would be easier to manage.
Also, Nigeria and the Republic of Niger agreed to an immediate take off of the joint border patrols along the border between the two countries.
The agreement is part of the efforts to curb the activities of the Islamic Fundamentalist group, Boko Haram in the North East of Nigeria and other terrorist groups within the region.
Besides, the two countries also agreed to equip their National Boundary Commissions with requisite logistics to ensure rapid completion of the re-demarcation of the Nigeria-Niger International Boundary.
The agreement was reached at the end of the sixth session of the High Authority of the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation held in Niamey, the capital of Republic of Niger.
President Goodluck Jonathan who led the Nigerian delegation is also a co-chair of the session where issues ranging from security to trade were discussed between both countries.
Jonathan is the first Nigerian President to visit Niger in the last seven years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s visit in 2006.
