I Didn't Make Deliberate Mistakes, Says Jonathan
***How I concealed illness for presidential campaign–First Lady
***Osinbajo absent at Aso Rock chapel handover
President Goodluck Jonathan admitted on Sunday that he might have offended some people in the course of performing his duties, but added that such actions were occasioned by the circumstances of his office and not deliberate.
Accordingly, he sought forgiveness from all those he might have so offended.
His wife, Dame Patience, also narrated how she defied a major health challenge to participate in re-election campaigns of her husband.
She said unknown to the public, all was not well with her body during the period of the campaigns as she was jumping in and out of hospitals abroad for medical attention.
She said her family, however, decided to make the issue a secret affair due to the tension and the anxieties that characterised the campaigns.
Jonathan and his wife spoke a thanksgiving service organised on their behalf by the Aso Rock Chapel.
The programme, which featured some special presentations, awards and gifts to the First Family was attended by some top government functionaries, friends and well-wishers.
Jonathan said: “If you wait for perfection, you cannot achieve anything. No system is perfect. Every human system must have an element of imperfection.
“For the period of eight years that we have been here. I will take the period as a block. So for the eight years that one has been there, definitely one is not perfect.”
The outgoing president said further: “We have certainly done things that probably we wouldn’t have done that way, but we didn’t do things deliberately.
“So for those who we have offended it was not deliberate, it was circumstances of the office. So we also plead that those people should forgive, we think we have done our best.
“You can do your best and your friends may misunderstand you. Today we are talking about leaving. It is only God that knows why things go the way they do.”
The President said he had reasons to thank God because he came to the Presidential Villa as a Vice President but was leaving with his family intact as President.
According to Dame Patience, who said she never dreamt in her life that she would be First Lady, she had a major operation in the heat of the campaigns in January in a German hospital, and was scheduled for another major one which was to have taken place after the campaign.
She said to her surprise however, when she went to Germany for the operation, which would have been 14 in two tears, her doctors certified her okay and cancelled the scheduled surgical operation.
“This campaign period, devil struck and came in again. In pains I was rushed to the hospital in January and the doctors told me, Mama you have to go for major big operation now, now.
“What again! The campaign was still going on and I wondered how we were going to explain to Nigerians. You know even when you go for check-up, they will be writing in papers, saying all sorts of things.
“I said I and my family have to handover. My husband will continue with his campaign crowd until the last day. That was how I went in for the first major operation in January ending. And by God’s grace, I went for the operation and came out and it was from that operation that I went to the campaign ground and after the campaigns I would go back to hospital with the last flight.
“And they told me Mama, there is another bigger operation that you have to go in for. This one would not be in this hospital. It is too small for this type of operation. You have to go to a bigger hospital and I said ah aha. I will go, I have faith in God. And that my God will see me through. He has brought me out for a purpose.
“I called my pastor to continue praying for me. They want me to be a sacrifice, but I will never be. Then, do you know I went to the bigger hospital. I booked for the operation and I was asked to go for the campaign. They gave me a new date. I had paid for everything remaining just to enter the theatre and the thing occurred to the hospital: let’s check her again. By then, my husband had lost the election. I had packed out of Villa, we are about going.
“Behold! I went to four hospitals again and the thing vanished. My doctors were surprised, they didn’t think that that could happen. I told my people doctors say we can go.”
Aso Rock Chaplain, Obioma Onwuzurumba who titled his message: “To God be the glory” extolled Jonathan and his family for their service to God and humanity as he recounted how he came into contact with the president.
In an interview with newsmen after the church service, he confirmed that Vice President-elect Yemi Osinbajo was invited to the programme where President Jonathan was expected to handover the chapel officially to him.
She said to her surprise however, when she went to Germany for the operation, which would have been 14 in two tears, her doctors certified her okay and cancelled the scheduled surgical operation.
“This campaign period, devil struck and came in again. In pains I was rushed to the hospital in January and the doctors told me, Mama you have to go for major big operation now, now.
“What again! The campaign was still going on and I wondered how we were going to explain to Nigerians. You know even when you go for check-up, they will be writing in papers, saying all sorts of things.
“I said I and my family have to handover. My husband will continue with his campaign crowd until the last day. That was how I went in for the first major operation in January ending. And by God’s grace, I went for the operation and came out and it was from that operation that I went to the campaign ground and after the campaigns I would go back to hospital with the last flight.
“And they told me Mama, there is another bigger operation that you have to go in for. This one would not be in this hospital. It is too small for this type of operation. You have to go to a bigger hospital and I said ah aha. I will go, I have faith in God. And that my God will see me through. He has brought me out for a purpose.
“I called my pastor to continue praying for me. They want me to be a sacrifice, but I will never be. Then, do you know I went to the bigger hospital. I booked for the operation and I was asked to go for the campaign. They gave me a new date. I had paid for everything remaining just to enter the theatre and the thing occurred to the hospital: let’s check her again. By then, my husband had lost the election. I had packed out of Villa, we are about going.
“Behold! I went to four hospitals again and the thing vanished. My doctors were surprised, they didn’t think that that could happen. I told my people doctors say we can go.”
Aso Rock Chaplain, Obioma Onwuzurumba who titled his message: “To God be the glory” extolled Jonathan and his family for their service to God and humanity as he recounted how he came into contact with the president.
In an interview with newsmen after the church service, he confirmed that Vice President-elect Yemi Osinbajo was invited to the programme where President Jonathan was expected to handover the chapel officially to him.
