This personage needs no introduction. She is no other person than the woman of courage, the woman whose love for the downtrodden, the less privileged and the have-nots, knows no bounds. The woman, who is passionate about women emancipation and empowerment; the activist in the issue of the girl-child and children in general, and the advocate of peaceful co-existence and the total well-being of Africans!
She is no other person than Dame Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s First Lady, the woman called Mama Peace, the Odamiba 1 of Otueke.
But what really challenges the passion of this activist is her pet project and the honour bestowed on her as the International Telecommunications Union’s, ITU-Child online Protection Champion, where she dissipates her energies, campaigning for the girl-child, children with heart related issues, women empowerment and the online threats against children and youths globally.
She hosted the First National Youth online Protection Summit, in Nigeria, which was a successful and graced by GOOGLE, NITDA, YAHOO, and other Internet private providers and organizations with youths that came from all spheres of life in Nigeria. They came together to interact, network and build synergies on cybercrime and protection against Internet bullies. Similarly, with the partnership of New Horizon, she convened a Cyber Security Summit in Nigeria, a major platform that brought major stakeholders in a convivial environment to chart a way forward towards the protection of the various publics against cyber threats.
The august event was chaired by Mr. Ehud Barak, former Israeli, Prime Minster, who, with other panelists drove home the challenges, issues and dangers posed by cyber threats/crime and called for all hands to be on deck. The summit re-awakened all Internet users to the dangers posed by the increasing love for the cyberspace.
The emancipation of women has led this ebullient lady to crave and fight for the 35 per cent Affirmative Action Principle, which has raised the stakes for women in appointed and elective positions in the country and has broken the ceiling of the dominance of the men-folks in politics in the country.
Just within this year, the amiable woman activist had been around the entire country from North to South, East to West canvassing for the inclusion of women into political reckoning and on these various platforms she also empowered widows, destitute and other vulnerable women, thereby sustaining their well-being and making them productive at home through skills acquisition given at such events.
To date, a lot of funds have been expended for the purchase of equipment, buses, tractors, fertilizers, generating sets, bags of rice, garri, grinding machines, sewing machines and a host of other durable and perishable goods which were handed over to the women at these functions with the assistance and collaboration of well meaning Nigerians.
While she had partnered a lot of non-governmental organizations, NGOs, which among others include the National Association for the Control of AIDS (NACA), which has reduced the number of HIV/AIDS positive pregnant women. The partnership has led to an increase in the number of individuals who are receiving HIV testing and counseling in the country, as well as collaborating with the Primary Health Care Development Agency for effective services delivery. One of such is the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS), which has also reduced child mortality by 60 per cent in 2015.
Through her continued partnership, advocacy and sustained approach, to date, more than 2,600 midwives have been deployed to over 650 rural health centres across Nigeria. About 650,000 safe delivery kits (MAMA KITS) have been distributed to new mothers across different states, while about 2,500 midwives have been trained in life-saving skills and over 600 rural centres across the country now have communication links to the national operations centre, which is in line with her strategic plan to operate, manage and eliminate any health scourge as President, African First Ladies Peace Mission.
The collaboration with the MDG office was very successful collaboration, as both recently launched the Village Health Workers Scheme during the year to which kits were distributed about 1,480 to newly employed village health workers. While the village to village initiative is a milestone that needs to be mentioned as access to free medical information is made available through SMS. For according to the energetic woman of courage, we can proudly say majority of our rural women and children are now the greatest beneficiaries of this laudable scheme while her partnership with the lady Mechanic Initiative have paid off significantly with the employment of about 5,000 who are gainfully employed and are undergoing apprenticeship currently.
While as part of the plans to empower the women by extension the family, the NGO is constantly training women in skills acquisition, like sewing, bead making, make-ups,and training in soap, perfume and furniture productions
Close to her heart, because of involvement with children, is the First Lady’s NGO, A. Aruera Reach-out Foundation (AARF), which had entered into strategic alliance with international experts on reducing the risks involved in transportation, accommodation and treatment of children with heart related diseases and challenges.
So far over 4,000 children have benefitted from this initiative of the NGO and more are still in the offing, for according to the First Lady, she cannot but continue to do this very work of humanity because it has become part and parcel of her life style and passion.
Her role on Chibok Girls saga at the meeting conveyed by her on February 14 and 15, 2014, led to the unveiling of information previously not in the public domain, broadening the matter for the good of the nation.
The good she intended turned unsavoury as the meeting progressed, and according to my good friend, Kenneth Ugbechie, who wrote philosophically, that we may not approve of her mastery of the Queen’s English, just like majority of Africans, saying, “you don’t need to speak good English to be a good leader.”
But we cannot lose sight of Dame Jonathan’s sense of bravery, courage and empathy for both the poor, women and children. Above all, she has stood by her husband in good times and in bad times like an Iroko tree, driving home the message that, ‘this is the stuff wives of strong characters are made of.’
Dame Patience Jonathan will remain that composite Nigerian woman – mobilizer, politician, mother – that compassionately encapsulates our rich cultural and African family values!
Written by Omoba Kenneth Aigbegbele, the media adviser to the First Lady.
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