Many will wonder how former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan qualified as our man of the year. It is not mere happenstance. In spite of our critical stance against his style of governance, it is difficult to ignore his resolve to quit in consonance with the people’s will desire for change. It was an act of courage; and it was the first of its kind in Nigeria. In this regard, the former president has set a very high standard for future leaders to follow.
By erring on the side of caution and putting the nation before self, after losing the March 28 presidential polls, Jonathan has secured his place in history and the pantheon of statesmen.
We are convinced that the world has not yet fully appreciated the significance this selfless sacrifice to the corporate existence of Nigeria. That may be the job for posterity. But, we are persuaded to accept that when all is said and done and regardless of his sometimes scandalous shortcomings, Jonathan get his full credit.
His famous phone call to Buhari in which he conceded defeat in spite of pressures to act otherwise, was a defining moment.
In a country – nay a continent – where election rigging is rampant and politicians stop at nothing to remain in power Jonathan is the first Nigerian and one of Africa’s very few presidents to willingly relinquish power through the ballot box.
“His action actually doused tensions and averted crisis in Nigeria. Not only Africa but the world has commended the president (Jonathan) for that because if he had disputed the elections, there would have been crisis in the country”, Buhari told visiting Nigerien president Issoufou Mahamadou.
His job performance record may have been a disaster; but his decision to yield to the will of the people was a masterstroke, a final act of self-redemption.
Born on November 20, 1957 in Ogbia, Bayelsa State, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was at the helm as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015. Good luck was never far from Jonathan. A former zoologist who became Nigeria’s vice-president in 2007 through fortuitous circumstances, Jonathan was the Governor of Bayelsa State from December 9, 2005 to May 28, 2007, and was sworn in as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29 May 2007.
He became president of Nigeria on May 6, 2010, after the unexpected death of Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, under what the National Assembly described as a “doctrine of necessity.”
He went to Christian primary and secondary schools in the riverine area and later attended the University of Port Harcourt. He graduated with a B.Sc (Hons) in Zoology in 1981; M.Sc. in hydrobiology and fisheries biology (1985), and a Ph.D. in Zoology (1995). During his university education, he also taught at the Rivers State College of Education from 1983 until 1993. He then served as an assistant director at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, a now defunct government agency, from 1993 until 1998. Jonathan Goodluck’s political career began when he was involved with the nascent People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the late 1990s.
He was elected deputy governor of Bayelsa state in 1999 on a joint ticket with late Governor Dieyepreye Alamieyeseigha. He served in the position until year 2005, when he was elevated to the governorship after the incumbent was charged with corruption and impeached.
In 2007, he was selected to be the vice presidential running mate of the PDP’s presidential candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He and Yar’Adua were elected in April and were inaugurated in May of the same year.
On 29 May 2011, he was officially sworn in as the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria. Jonathan’s term as President of Nigeria ended on 29 May 2015, when he handed over to his successor, Muhammadu Buhari.
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