Dame Patience Jonathan: Pursuing A Worthy Cause

Nigeria’s fashionably dressed  First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has consistently stood for the rights and emancipation  of women. She has actively pursued this objectives sine  her husband, now Nigerian’s President, was Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. 
        She took on this struggle to liberate women  from the multiple challenges they face in the world; In some cultures, deep-rooted societal norms, and practices we are usually given the worst end chokes up b the abilities of women, thereby preventing
them from enjoying  the basic liberties  of life.
     The first lady’s crusades in Nigeria, is an endorsement that Dame Jonathan is a passionate advocate of women’s rights and freedom. She  has been very vocal  in her convictions  that women and the girl-child deserve a better deal.
     On October 15th 2010, Her Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan,  established the Women for Change and Development Initiative (W4CI) in Abuja, to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality. Through W4CI, the First Lady has  able to make giant leaps to change the orientation of women in all spheres of human life.
 Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 1980, and nine years later, she obtained the National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Mathematics/Biology from the River State College of Arts and Science in Port Harcourt.  Her quest for knowledge and growth later landed her at the University of Port Harcourt where she studied Biology and Psychology. Her path took her from a career in teaching to banking then back to teaching. In 1999, she left her position at the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education when her husband, now Nigerian’s President Goodluck Jonathan, became the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. They have two children together.
      Patience Jonathan has been recognized locally and nationally in the country and internationally for her philanthropic work. She received the “Beyond The Tears” International Humanitarian Award in 2008, for her role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, the African Goodwill Ambassador Award also in 2008 and she was the  recipient of the “Wind of Change” Award from the South/South Women’s Organization.
           Between 2005 and 2007 when President Goodluck Jonathan served as Governor, Patience Jonathan served the state in the capacity of the first Lady of Bayelsa State. During this period, Mrs. Jonathan founded many philanthropic and women empowerment programs, among them are the A-Aruere Reachout Foundation (AARF), which she set up to improve the status and earning capacity of women and youths.
      The First Lady has pursued her programmes with unprecedented enthusiasm that has won her great admiration. The activities of Dame Jonathan  has only given expression to the  positive response of the  government to the yearning  of  the Nigerian woman over the years who have  decried their  outright neglect  in  the scheme of things  especially in the  political scene.
        The First Lady has won recognition both locally and internationally for her various activities, including  her philanthropic work and political pragmatism.
                 She has bagged several awards, including;  the “Beyond The Tears” International Humanitarian Award New York, USA, in 2008, for her role in the global fight against HIV/AIDS; the African Goodwill Ambassador Award (Los Angeles, USA, 2008) and the recipient of the "Wind of Change" Award from the South/South Women’s Organization.

Between 2005 and 2007 when Dr. Jonathan served as Governor, Mrs. Jonathan served the state in the capacity of the first Lady of Bayelsa State. During this period, Mrs. Jonathan founded many philanthropic and women empowerment programs,