The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Sunday, explained how she was rescued from the jaws of death by divine intervention, saying it was the grace of God that saved her from the illness that saw her hospitalised twice.
Speaking during a praise and thanksgiving ceremony she hosted at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Dame Jonathan said she ‘died’ but was miraculously resurrected after undergoing series of operations within a week.
Recalling how her critical condition was leaked to the public by her trusted friends and associates, she said some of them even went to the extent of disposing some of her belongings, believing she won’t make it.
Alluding to the fate that befell the late First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, with whom she said they worshipped together at the chapel within the precincts of the Presidential Villa before her death, Dame Jonathan, in an emotion-laden voice, said: “That was how my corpse would have been brought here. It was not an easy experience for me. I actually died. I passed out for more than a week. My intestine and tummy were opened.
“A black doctor in London who is with us in this service was flown in when the situation became critical. It was God himself in His infinite mercy that said I will return to Nigeria. God woke me up after seven days.
“I know that some people somehow leaked the information that I was dead. They are people that I trust and rely on; to them, I was dead and I would never return to the country alive. Some of them even sold my things off.
“I won’t say everything here. It is the Lord’s doing that I returned alive. When God says yes, nobody can say no.
“People are always afraid of operation (surgery) but in my own case, while my travail lasted, I was begging for it (surgery) after the third operation because I was going to the theatre everyday.
“It was God who saw me through. I did eight or nine operations within one month. It was not an easy one.”
She also disclosed how the doctors who carried out the surgeries on her nearly gave up on her thinking that she will not survive.
She however expressed gratitude to God for sparing her life, saying she will remain devoted to Him and put her energy into doing good for the benefit of the less privileged.
“I am not Lazarus but my experience was similar to his. My doctors said all hope was lost.
“The day I came back, I said God I have nothing to say, I offer myself to you. I will be doing things that will touch the lives of the less-privileged.
“God gave me second chance because I reached there. He knew I have not completed the assignments He gave me, that was why I was sent back,” she said.
In his remark at the occasion, President Goodluck Jonathan recalled the ominous prediction by ‘prophets’ that nobody goes into Aso Rock and come out without dying or losing his spouse, thus praying that neither of them shall die while they are still in office.
While appreciating the large presence of dignitaries at the ceremony, Jonathan said the day was a special one for him and his family, saying when he was deputy governor in Bayelsa and his second cousin died, one of his mentors lamented how people he knew who were on the verge of becoming successful suddenly die.
He disclosed that the same spectre of death hung around him when he assumed office as President, with many predictions about him or his wife dying. “Thank God for keeping the life of my wife. If anything had happen to her, there would have been many stories. The fake prophets would have had their predictions fulfilled,” he said.
He urged Nigerians not to relent in prayers for the good of the country. “If you love this country, you will not talk about divisions. God willing, we will begin to turn things around,” he said.
