First Lady Patience Jonathan Visits Stone Barns Center With Mrs. Obama; Advocates For Sustainable Food System In Nigeria
The First Lady, Dame Patience Gooodluck Jonathan joined other spouses of Heads of State and Government at the United Nations General assembly to pay an historic visit to Stone Barns Center, a nonprofit farm and education center in Pocantico Hills, New York.
The visit was at the instance of the American First Lady, Michele Obama to intimate the visiting First Ladies about America's new approach to food production.
Stone Barns center teaches children, farmers, chefs and thousands of annual visitors about using diversified community farms to grow foods that are better for people, better for the planet and more nutritious and savoury.
Mrs. Obama led her guests, including Nigeria's First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan on a tour of the farm where 3rd grade students from JFK Magnet School and Pocantico Hills Central School participated in a farm-based education programmes.
The students engaged in a range of activities, which included harvesting vegetables and collecting eggs. They later prepared farm-fresh lunch for the First Ladies.
First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan commended the management of the center for the effort to create a healthy and sustainable food system.
She noted that the activities at the Stone Barns Center could be an eye opener for Nigeria in its quest for better ways of growing food.
Dame Patience Jonathan advocated for a similar center in Nigeria where farmers would be trained on modern ways of growing food and modern farming techniques in order to create a sustainable food system.
The First Lady said such center would serve as a vehicle for increased food production and food sufficiency in the country.
Farmers at Stone Barns grow over 200 varieties of produce year round and raise laying hens, broiler chickens, turkeys, sheep, pigs and bees.
Dame Patience Jonathan was earlier hosted to a Tea Reception by the wife of United Nations Secretary General, Mrs. Ban Su-Teik alongside other First Ladies who were present at the just concluded 65th General Assembly of the United Nations.
Dame Patience Jonathan is back home.
Signed
Ayo Adewuyi
Media Assistant,
Office of the First Lady.
SR's Editor's Note: Correction and clarification:
The citizen reporter who covered this story erroneously reported that Mrs. Michelle Obama did not invite Mrs. Patience Jonathan to the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture last Friday. Saharareporters has confirmed that Mrs. Jonathan was in fact invited along with 38 other wives of visiting heads of state, and was indeed present. However, Mrs. Jonathan was excluded from the pool of First Ladies who were asked to accompany Mrs. Obama on a tour of the chicken farm. The Cameroonian First Lady, Mrs. Biya, that of Haiti, Norway, Turkey, and Swaziland were among those who were included on that tour.
As is evident from the attached 13-minute video, there was no time that the Nigerian delegation reportedly led by Mrs. Jonathan played any visible role throughout the event. However, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) has made it seem as if Mrs. Jonathan was the center of attraction at the event.
Dear All:
And there you have it....you cannot report what you did not see.....and you must report correctly what you see.
Let us move on....
Bolaji Aluko
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http://saharareporters.com/news-page/un-jamboree-fallout-michelle-obama-shuns-patience-jonathan-new-york-updated-correction-and
Correction and clarification: The citizen reporter who covered this story erroneously reported that Mrs. Michelle Obama did not invite Mrs. Patience Jonathan to the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture last Friday.Saharareporters has confirmed that Mrs. Jonathan was in fact invited along with 38 other wives of visiting heads of state, and was indeed present.
However, Mrs. Jonathan was excluded from the pool of First Ladies who were asked to accompany Mrs. Obama on a tour of the chicken farm. The Cameroonian First Lady, Mrs. Biya, that of Haiti, Norway, Turkey, and Swaziland were among those who were included on that tour. As is evident from the attached 13-minute video, there was no time that the Nigerian delegation reportedly led by Mrs. Jonathan played any visible role throughout the event. However, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) has made it seem as if Mrs. Jonathan was the center of attraction at the event. In addition, neither the White House Blog nor the major American media mentioned Mrs. Jonathan's participation at Mrs. Obama's event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceTeWuPG3SQ
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UN Jamboree Fallout: Michelle Obama Shuns Patience Jonathan In New York -Updated With Correction And Clarification
Posted: September 27, 2010 - 22:27
By SaharaReporters, New YorkDespite her large, show-off delegation to New York—perhaps because of it—First Lady Patience Jonathan was on Friday in New York spurned by the wife of the world's most powerful man.
Michelle Obama, who was in New York as part of the 65th United Nations General Assembly, invited spouses of world leaders, including those of the leaders of such countries as Cameroon, Mongolia, Swaziland and Latvia, to tour a farm north of New York City as part of "Healthy Living" initiative. She thereafter treated her guests to a seasonal lunch featuring bounty from the farm as well as the White House garden.
At both events, Nigeria's Mrs. Jonathan was embarrassingly missing.
It was not immediately clear why she was not invited, but reliable sources said Mrs. Jonathan is not highly regarded because of her poor reputation. It will be recalled that President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been very critical of corrupt African leaders, and Mrs. Jonathan has highly-visible and un-discharged money-laundering charges against her. One of them, concerning the seizure from her of the sum of $13.5 million dollars by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on September 11, 2006, was broadcast worldwide by the International Herald Tribune.
Other factors in the decision to exclude her may be her insertion of self into the political process in Rivers, where she recently had a run-in with the state governor. Mrs. Jonathan also has a penchant for frivolous jamborees and wasting taxpayers' money. A report of her curious trip to Lebanon and Dubai in the early days of her husband's presidency has badly damaged her reputation, a source said yesterday. The White House was also certain to have received reports of her bloated delegation to New York. According to report by 234next newspaper and the entourage list obtained by Saharareporters, personal aides that accompanied Mrs. Jonathan into New York include her steward, Benson Okpara; her luggage officer, Geoffrey Obuofforibo; and her special assistant in charge of administration, Oroyemisi Ojewole.
And while her husband flew into New York on Thursday morning with 32 bodyguards and security aides, Mrs. Jonathan flew in her own security cocoon. There were her aide-de-camp, Jacob Tamunoibuomi; her orderly, Abigail Jonah; and Francis Ibiene, her chief security officer.
The president's wife also shocked presidency officials, who coordinated the 36-hour trip, when she included her personal physician, Elizabeth Austin-Amadi, although the president's chief physician, F. iberesima, was on also the trip. Mrs. Jonathan also travelled with her director of protocol, Mfama Abam; her principal protocol officer, Nuhu Kwache; her special assistant, domestic matters, Martha Onwuzurumba; her special assistant, media, Aliagan Zubair; and her media officer, Ayo Adewuyi. The first lady also took her private posse on the journey. The inner chamber included four of her friends who were marked "private" on the presidential entourage. They were Bola Shagaya, Joyce Bozimo, Pelebo Banigo and Musa Ujah.
Also on her delegation were Helen Mark, wife of the President of the Senate; Mariam Imoke, wife of Cross River State governor; Fatima Shema, wife of the Katsina State governor; Oluwakemi Alao-Akala, wife of the Oyo State governor; and Clara Chime, wife of the Enugu State chief executive. Mrs. Mark, in turn, brought along two of her aides - Ogwuiji Clement and Omeche Omudu , while the vice president's wife, Amina Sambo, made the journey with her aide-de-camp, Abubakar Dauda, as well as her principal protocol officer, Zayyad Abdulsalam, and her personal assistant, Dabo Suleiman.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters has learned that that Nigeria lost $25,000 to a con contractor who hired limousines for Mr. Jonathan's delegation. The US government provided three vehicles and escorts for the presidential delegation. But because of the bloated size of the team, about 500 people in total, additional vehicles had to be hired. However, instead of approaching the limousine company directly, the president's team went through a third party who simply inflated the contract by $25,000.
Jonathan profligacy will continue in Abuja tomorrow where his controversial wife will begin a series of state-sponsored celebrations of her 50th birthday celebration tagged "50-at-50". The publicly-owned Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) has begun a series of adverts of the event which includes awards to questionable characters like the chair of the EFCC, Farida Waziri, and the disgraced former speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh. The highlight of the celebrations of Mrs. Jonathan's birthday will involve Mrs. Jonathan traveling back to the US with 50 women to party and shop.
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