Former First Lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan, has opened up on the struggles she faced while pursuing her PhD, revealing that pressure and constant frustration from lecturers nearly made her quit.
Speaking during a testimony session at Streams of Joy International Church, led by Pastor Jerry Eze, Patience Jonathan recounted the emotional and mental toll of earning a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Guidance, and Counselling from Ignatius Ajuru University of Education.
According to her, the academic journey wasn’t easy, and there were moments she seriously considered abandoning the programme.
“Sometimes, my lecturer would get me angry and say, ‘Go and repeat this page,’ and I’d just get so frustrated,” she said, as the congregation burst into laughter.
“I’d ask myself, Shey this man don’t know that I’m old? Very soon, I’ll just 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, He made it possible. I graduated.”
Jonathan, who was recently awarded her PhD during the university’s 43rd Postgraduate Convocation, said that pursuing the degree wasn’t something she originally planned after serving as Nigeria’s First Lady.
“When I picked up the PhD form, I thought I would not make it. I told myself, I’ve finished my career. I’ve served this country. 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 also described how the experience humbled her, especially being in the same classroom with much younger students.
“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.”
Describing the three-year programme as feeling like “forty years,” Jonathan said it was only divine help that gave her the strength to see it through.
She urged Nigerians particularly women and the elderly not to let age or life’s circumstances discourage them from pursuing academic goals.
“There is no age limit in education. If you are a hundred years old, you can make it. If you are ten years old, you can make it. Just be determined, and you will get there.”
