1-She
is older than President Goodluck Jonathan. Okay, calm down, not what
you are thinking. She was born in Port Harcourt on the 25th October 1957
while the don himself was born on 20th November, 1957. Ok, just like a
month.
2. She holds a National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Mathematics
& Biology from the Rivers State College of Education and later
bagged a degree from University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) in Biology
& Psychology. She passed WASSCE in 1980, long before many of her
haters were born. Ok, no lele. Let’s ride on.
3. Although she started out as a teacher at Stella Maris College in
Port Harcourt (HajMari, where are you o?), she later veered briefly into
the banking sector, establishing Akpo Community Bank in 1997, the first
of its kind in Port Harcourt, and later served as the Marketing Manager
of Imieto Community Bank.
4. According to Baridah Job Karabah, a former houseboy, her nickname
back in the days was ‘Mama Ice Cream’ (and that of the President was
simply ‘Oga Joe’ ). Ice cream ke? Yes, and that was because she used to
cool (abi na freeze…lol) ice cream in her large deep freezers. The ice
cream is then later distributed for sale. He says business was ‘booming’
for her then. President Jonathan was at that time, a senior lecturer at
the Rivers State College of Education. And yes, she had a poultry too
at the same time. Quite industrious I’d say.
5. In September 2012, she was awarded a honorary degree by the Delta
State University, Abraka despite the fact that she was not in the
country at that time. She was said to have gone to Germany but she
denied going there for any treatment. Worefa.
6. She hails from Oba-Ama Community in Okrika, a port town in Rivers
State. It is known as a base for the sale of second-hand clothes, and
the name Okrika for those of us very familiar with ‘Bend Down Select’
and ‘Tokunbo’ clothes is an attestation to that. Omo, I can never forget
the delightful smell of Okrika clothes…lol! The belief then, and even
maybe now is that they are even better than ‘original’ and brand new
clothes. Next!
7. Her maiden name is OBA. As in, she was once Miss Patience Oba.
8. Miss Oba later met her lecturer while she was a student at the
Rivers State College of Education (now Rivers State University of
Education, Rumuolumeni). Her lecturer then was with the Department of
Biological Sciences (he taught her biology, oh, I love that course die!
Don’t ask me why!), and one thing led to the other, they both fell in
love. Today, the rest is history and that Mr. Lecturer of yesterday now
rules the most populous black nation on earth. You still don’t know him?
Go get yourself a black fedora hat! Hear her:
”We first met at the Rivers State College of Education, Port Harcourt
where I was a student. He was my Biology lecturer.Later; he left for
university of Port Harcourt to pursue his PhD.
We met again at the University of Port Harcourt when I went for
undergraduate degree. That was where our relationship began. He took
interest in me because I was a brilliant and smart student.
It was love at first sight on his part. But it never crossed my mind
that it would lead to a serious relationship. My first impression of him
was ‘this tall, dark, hansome young man”.
Further interaction with him also revealed that he came from a good
Christian home just like I did. His humble and gentle disposition caught
my attention and most importantly, his intelligence.”
9. She says she still cooks for her husband and even goes to Utako
Market (Abuja people, wey una dey?) to buy ingredients for soup. O ga
ju!
10. Her hobbies? You bet! Reading, writing, travelling and oh yeah, swimming!
11. She holds many traditional titles, some of which are:
-Odadigba of Otuoke Kingdom, meaning the Ladder of Success.
-Unume Wheshi Ekpeye 1 of Ekpeye Kingdom in Rivers State.
-Yeye Obateru of Owu Kingdom, Ogun State, means the Wife of He Who Shares the King’s Burden.
-Yeye Ohun Orun of the Source of Ife Kingdom, Osun State, meaning the Wife of the Voice of the Heavens.
-Ada Di Oha Mma of Ukpo Kingdom (Daughter of the People of Ukpo). Okay, I
think that is enough for now. Nigerians and titles sha.
12. She bears the title ‘Dame’ as she was honoured with the Knighthood of the Anglican Church.
13. Her marriage with the President is blessed with two children: a
cheeky boy, Ariwera Adolphus Jonathan and a beautiful girl, Aruabi
Jonathan.
14. Like others before her, she also has a non-governmental
organization, named the A. Aruera Reachout Foundation and is said to
focus on the needy, the poor and the destitute, with particular emphasis
on women and children. According to the Foundation, it has trained over
2,000 women in the last eight years. Some of the things her Foundation
also did was to foot the N1.8 million naira bill for an operation in
India for a girl with a hole in the heart (septal defect) and Jubril
Mohammed Hussein, a 9-year-old boy who was also flown out for treatment
for his heart disease. Zainab Musa Garba, a twin, was diagnosed with a
heart condition and needed N3 million naira for treatment, the Dame also
footed her bills. Zainab’s mother teaches at the Federal Government
College, Maiduguri while the dad is a retired civil servant. That’s a
good one or what do you think? Same goes for Tobi Peters, an 11-year-old
boy, three-month-old Peculiar Owodu and others (now over 30 kids).
Well, I had to point that out because Nigerians seem to be carried away
by her speeches as if we are all professors of English ourselves. By the
way, I am assuming that her Foundation derived its name from her two
kids: ARU-abi and Ariw-ERA. At any rate, it’s an assumption.
15. She is currently engaged in a tussle with the former First Lady,
Turai Yar’adua over a plot of land in the Federal Capital Territory.
That’s what I call the vanity of power and inanity of authority. By the
way, I promise to tell you the meaning of her middle name ‘Faka’ once I
get it. I’ve been trying to, but nothing yet.
Thanks for your time.
Iyaniwura.
InformationNigeria
