A young female friend of mine sent me a post on WhatsApp earlier in the week. It was one of such posts that are based on false information, but what particularly got me to write about it here was that the post was about the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan (DPJ). This friend of mine has always been an apologist of DPJ and GEJ, so, I wasn’t surprised that she sent the post to me. But what took me aback was that I would have expected her to have found out the facts before sending the post, because I know her to be a highly intelligent young lady with a very good command of the English language- an attribute absolutely lacking in DPJ. And considering the manner of expression in which the post was written, I was sure she didn’t write it herself; it must have been sent to her by someone, and knowing that we both always disagree on GEJ and DPJ matters she must have thought I would get ‘informed’ by such a post, and maybe then she would win me over, so she resent it to me. But it was I who actually did the informing because I sent her rejoinder! This is the post she sent: Patience Jonathan does not speak good English (We agree!!!!) - but she is loved by a PHD Holder, Former Deputy Governor, Former Vice President and the President of a powerful nation. Who have you attracted with your Queens English? You can speak flawless grammar but you cannot stand by your man through tough times. She was a tailor in Warri with little or no education. Today she is the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Wise ones will learn from her. Interestingly, that is * The Woman that stood by GEJ when he was living with all his brothers in a 1room apartment. * That is the woman that took GEJ to her Uncle in the Zoology Dept. of UniPort in order to help him get admission which he got. * That is the Woman that stood by GEJ when he had no food to eat and will bring Food stuffs for him in school every weekend. * That is the Woman that used her money from her business to help GEJ to pay for handouts and textbooks when he was an Undergraduate. * That is the Woman that stood by GEJ till he became the President of Nigeria. Now, answer these questions... * How many of you ladies here can do this for the Love of a Man? *how many guys can pay back good deeds by marry a woman that stands by you * How many of you guys can boast that your girl can stand by you like Patience did? * How many of you guys prefer a lady that speaks Good english but will be the worst wife ever??? * How many of you guys will prefer a wife that speaks good english but will be your downfall tomorrow..... A wife that speaks good English but will make your life miserable like hell on earth - Is that what you prefer? Many of you have left your boyfriends because he doesn’t have money, men are in a big race to marry a big girl - then you stand and say Deris GOD oooo!!!!! OF COURSE, THERES A GOD who doesnt judge by outward appearances or the fluency of anybodys spoken English. Kindly pass this on - someone might learn something and lives can be changed! *****End of her post****** It took me 5 days to be able to send her my rejoinder because of time, and when I did, this is what I sent: That Patience Jonathan speaks bad English is a fact, whether we agree or not! And that her husband holds a Ph. D. and was a former deputy governor, a former governor, a former vice president, and now the incumbent president of an African country by the name Nigeria are also facts. (But the idea that that country is a powerful nation is a fallacy!) True, her husband loves her- that’s another fact- and that’s the reason why they are still married to each other. That’s so glaringly evident and very understandable even to a blind man: a husband should love his wife and vice versa. But what is not understandable is the reason why some people run to social media to post wrong information with little or no truth at all- nonsensical rubbish post at best! Worse still, they will ask people to rebroadcast or repost such rubbish. Some will even threaten u that something bad will happen to you if you do not repost such rubbish posts! As for me, I don’t fall for such, and that’s the reason for this rejoinder. There are many versions of the story of GEJ and DPJ but, at least, this one is official, and this is what both of them want us to believe: GEJ NEVER lived with his brothers in a one room apartment, and even if he did, it wasn’t because he was a pauper and Patience then came and stood by him. That never happened. It’s a fallacy! GEJ was NEVER helped by Patience’s uncle for admission into Uniport, and neither was Patience taking food stuffs to GEJ in school every weekend. That’s another fallacy! Patience NEVER used her money to help GEJ pay for handout and textbooks while he was an undergraduate. A fallacy, again! As a matter of fact, GEJ met Patience for the first time after he had already bagged his Masters Degree and was lecturing at Rivers State College of Education where Patience was an NCE student. He was her biology lecturer when they first met! Theirs was a lecturer-student love affair. GEJ later left the college for Uniport for his Ph. D., and they met again when DPJ went to Uniport for her degree program. So, all this talk about her uncle helping him secure admission in Uniport , she bringing food for him when he was an undergraduate, and she standing by him when he was living in a one room apartment is a big lie from d pit an abyss! I don’t know where they got that from. They are all fallacious statements! Even, if she did stand by him in his times of troubles, so what? She wouldn’t be d first to do that, and neither will she be d last. So what is the hullaballoo about her standing by her husband in d past?! And still that doesnt excuse her lack of gracefulness. And who says there aren’t many more ladies who can do same, and even much more for their men? Even better women than Patience by all standards have done it. So what? Who says there aren’t guys who can pay back good deeds by marrying women who were there for them in their times of need? I have seen a lot of such men, and if you look very well, you will see them too. Who says if a wife speaks good English she will be her man’s downfall tomorrow? Who says she will make life miserable for her husband if she speaks Queen’s English? I don’t understand the logic behind this reasoning. If a wife is going to make her husband’s life hell on earth she doesn’t need to have a good command of English to do that. She only needs to have dined with d Devil, and I don’t think d Devil requires anyone to be able to speak good English to be his agent. If women who speak good English are the worst of wives then the likes of Joke Silva would have brought down someone like Olu Jacobs and co a long time ago! One thing I know is that no matter how glaring the facts are, some people will still somehow find a way of explaining them away in order to suit their belief, albeit with fallacies. I know some people don’t like the idea that the first lady is being mocked in this manner, but rather, I would say it is the first lady who is mocking herself. Such people should not get the impression that those who mock her actually hate her. That would be a very wrong view because nobody hates Dame Patience Jonathan. She is the First Lady, and that is why things are even so complicated. She holds a position of leadership. People equate such positions to intelligence and intellect but her constant ‘murder’ of the English language doesn’t portray her as someone having such, and that is where people began to have problems with her. When anyone holds such exalted positions as President or First Lady, their lives are no longer private. They hold public offices and are accountable to the citizens who they are supposed to be serving. Everything they do, every word they utter, every action they take or don’t take, come under the public radar, and the people can get ecstatic, pissed off, amused or angered by what they hear or see them do. Nigerians have a very good sense of humour, and Dame Patience Ibifaka Jonathan wouldn’t stop feeding this sense of humour with her own version of the English language! Don’t blame them. Blame her instead. She is supposed to be an educated person, and please, don’t come to her defence with the fact that English is not her language. English isn’t our first language too, and neither is it the first language of many heads of states and their wives around the world where English is their official language, yet none of them brings national disgrace of an international order to their people on a regular basis as Patience does to Nigerians. That’s a fact. Dame Patience Jonathan is known around the world as the uncouth first lady of Nigeria who speaks very terrible English. That’s another fact. Nigerians consider this as embarrassment and a national disgrace to them, and if mocking her incorrect English would make her stop embarrassing us then let them be! Afterall, even if not at home, at least internationally, she is always making the news with her English and the manner in which she carries herself, and no amount of propaganda posts will stop people from responding to her hilarious spoken English. “Dia ris God u ooooo!” Of course there is a God Who doesn’t judge anyone by their outward appearance or their proficiency in spoken English, but remember also that He doesn’t also say that when those who have challenged intelligence or those who are despotic find themselves in positions of power then people shouldn’t talk. We pray for our leaders to lead us right and to be divinely guarded in their actions; we owe them that. But we will not condone their inadequacies and neither will we allow them to assault our intelligence! God bless Nigeria. I won’t ask you to pass this on so that someone might learn something and lives might be changed even though it has the potential to do so. But I will tell you this: get your facts right before you help some uninformed people spread nonexistent stories. Take care of yourself. Shalom. ****End of my rejoinder**** I’m not sure if my reply was informative enough but I know it is official, and I’m sure my friend’s post was based on wrong information. If anyone knows more facts about GEJ and DPJ please, don’t hesitate to inform us. © LKI, June 2014.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 04:12:48 +0000