“Shey This Man Don’t Know That I’m Old?” – Patience Jonathan Shares Struggles During PhD Journey

Former First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan, has revealed how intense academic pressure and discouraging remarks from her lecturers nearly pushed her to abandon her Doctor of Philosophy programme.

Speaking at a testimony session at Streams of Joy International Church, led by Pastor Jerry Eze, the wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan shared her deeply personal struggle during her PhD journey in Psychology, Guidance, and Counselling at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rivers State.

According to her, the road to earning the degree was far from smooth. She described moments of mental exhaustion and self-doubt, fueled by repeated criticism and academic demands that made her question whether continuing the programme was worth it.

“Sometimes, my lecturer would get me angry and say, ‘Go and repeat this page,’ and I’d just get so frustrated,” she recounted to a laughing congregation. “I’d ask myself, ‘Shey this man don’t know that I’m old?’ Very soon, I’ll just leave this place and rest because what will I do with it? It’s just to keep the brain moving. But to God be the glory. That thing that seemed impossible, He made it possible. I graduated.”

Her remarks resonated deeply, especially with many older Nigerians who have shelved personal dreams in the face of societal expectations or age-related limitations. Patience Jonathan admitted she never planned to return to school after serving as Nigeria’s First Lady. But a spiritual conviction changed her mind.

“When I picked up the PhD form, I thought I would not make it. I told myself, I’ve finished my career. I’ve served this country. What am I going to do with a PhD? But God told me to go there. He said, ‘If your children can make it, why can’t you?’”

Despite being in a class filled with much younger students, she embraced the experience with humility. “I would go to class and sit on the bench with my children. I was the ‘Mama’ among them, and I wasn’t ashamed,” she said. “The teacher would be teaching, I would raise my hand and ask questions because the younger ones would understand immediately, but, as a ‘Mama’, I had to ask questions three times before I understood one thing.”

Jonathan described the three-year academic pursuit as feeling like “forty years,” highlighting the depth of effort it demanded. Her successful completion of the programme was recently marked at the university’s 43rd Postgraduate Convocation, where she was officially conferred with the degree.

She used her story to encourage others, especially women and older Nigerians, to never give up on learning. “There is no age limit in education. If you are a hundred years old, you can make it. If you are ten years old, you can make it. Just be determined, and you will get there.”

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