No Fanfare as Dame Patience Faka Jonathan Turns 64

All things eventually come to an end, but new beginnings are always on the horizon. This contrast of odds is an appropriate portrait to capture the status and shadows of Dame Patience Faka Jonathan, the former First Lady of Nigeria. A few days ago, she clocked 64 and celebrated her new age. Absent from the celebrations, however, was her nest of old friends.

October 25, 2021, marked the 64th year of Dame Patience’s life on the earth. At 64, the native of Bayelsa State has achieved far more than the majority of her mates in Nigeria, having climbed to one of the highest administrative steps possible for a citizen. Conversely, she has also marched across the depths of valleys, low points in the public eye that very few women have ever fallen to. Nevertheless, Dame Patience remains one of a kind.

For most presidents of Nigeria, their wives are usually forgotten far quicker than any white-elephant project that they promised to complete but somehow overlooked. Not so for immediate past President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Due to Dame Patience’s signature refusal to hide her emotions behind the bureaucracy of stoic governance, she remains in the heart of every adult Nigerian. But, her old friends that once sang her praises and accompanied her everywhere are no longer there.

Back when she was First Lady, she was invited to nearly every big social event, especially when the celebrant was female. Every event that Dame Patience graced was one that automatically made her the special guest of honour. Alas, those days are a thing of the past now.

The fact that she clocked 56 did not resonate much, except within her household. The old town criers have moved to new persons and opportunities. They returned to her briefly a few months ago when it was rumoured that Jonathan might reemerge as a presidential candidate. However, they left not long after. An ignorant person might even conclude that it was Jonathan’s rumoured comeback that led Dame Patience’s friends back to her, if only briefly.

The days as an ordinary citizen of the country pass in silence for the former First Lady. It is a far cry from her daily life when her husband was president.