I almost quit my PHD programme due to old age & lecturers pressure–Patience Jonathan’s Testimony
If you have been pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme and you are on the brink of quitting, former First Lady, Patience Jonathan has a word for you
Jonathan said she faced this much – pressure from her lecturers – at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, where she just earned a doctorate in in Psychology, Guidance and Counselling.
She recounted the frustration that attended the education quest during a testimony time at Streams of Joy International Church.
“At times, my lecturer would get me angry and say, ‘Go and repeat this page.’
“Shey this man don’t know that I’m old.
“Very soon, I will 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, God made it possible, and I graduated,” she said.
At a point, she recalled, she had thought she would not make it, because of all those pressure to repeat assignments and more.
“When I went to pick up my PhD form, I thought I would not make it.
“I said, I have finished my career. I have served as First Lady of Nigeria. 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?”
“I would go to class and sit on the bench with my children. I was the ‘Mama’ among them, and I wasn’t ashamed.
“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,” Patience Jonathan said.
