The Media Assistant to the First Lady, Ayo Oshinlu, has denied reports making the rounds in the media that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is in Europe for medical attention.
According to a statement released on Monday by her Media aide, the First Lady did not travel abroad for medical treatment but to attend to her ailing mother as well as spend quality time with her children who are on vacation.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been attracted by some curiosity in a cross section of the public and particularly the media, about the movement of Her Excellency, the First Lady, Dame (Dr) Patience Goodluck Jonathan.
“For the avoidance of doubts and ambiguities, we wish to state that the First Lady travelled to Dubai, after which she proceeded to Paris, France, to participate in the 1st Green Women Conference, which took place in Paris on March 17, 2013 where she received the 2013 Global Women Leaders’ Award for Peace.
“She thereafter proceeded to Italy from where she went to Germany to see her mother, Mama Sisi, who is currently receiving medical attention.
“The First Lady is spending sometime overseeing the management of her mother’s condition.
“She is also using the opportunity to spend quality time with her holidaying children before they return to school, as they are with her to see their grandmother.
“It is unfortunate that again, some media houses have allowed themselves to be used by dedicated mischief makers against the basic tenet of professional journalism, which regards truth as sacred.
“It is notable that Her Excellency has a history of visiting the hospital in Germany even before she became the First Lady, thus making her medical trips routine.
“It is also instructive to state that medical experts have recommended that every human being should undergo medical check up every six months, even if not suffering ill health.
“Therefore, hospital visitations of our leaders should not become leading media issues or attract disrespectful comments.”
It would be recalled that last year August, Mrs. Jonathan was secretly flown out of the country in an air ambulance to a German hospital where she spent about six weeks before returning home, but her Media aide, Oshinlu, told Nigerians that her principal was just having a well deserved rest abroad.
But recently, the First Lady owned up when she held a thanksgiving service at the Aso Rock Chapel, that she was actually sick and was in coma for seven days.
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