- She added that she has no desire to return due to the excessive stress associated with the role
Patience Jonathan, former Nigeria’s First Lady and wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has ruled out the possibility of returning to Aso Rock.
She remarked that she has felt younger since leaving the presidential villa. She added that she has no desire to return due to the excessive stress associated with the role.
Patience Jonathan made these comments during a speech on ‘Public Relations, Value Reorientation, and Economic Transformation.’
The former first lady was speaking on Thursday at a colloquium organized to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
Patience said: “The stress of Nigeria is too much. If you call (on) me now for the villa, I won’t go there. I won’t.
“Don’t you see how young I am? The stress is so much. The stress of Nigeria is so much.
“If God manages to bring you out of it, you should glorify God and thank him. It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.
“He has taken you there once, why do you want to go there again? Me, I won’t go ooo.”
Also commenting on the 2015 presidential election, which her husband lost to Muhammadu Buhari, Patience Jonathan said she did not encourage Goodluck to hand on to power.
She said she did not urge her husband to stay in office after he lost at the polls.
According to her, Jonathan “willingly relinquished without a fight.
“When we failed the election, I was with him (Jonathan). We were in the room when we were told you had lost.
“I did not whisper to him that he must stay. Because we will shed blood. Innocent people will die.
“And who will be the person we don’t know. It might be you, it might be me. It might be my brother or sister.
“We don’t need anybody to die. We’re brothers and sisters. We are one country,” the former First Lady added.
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