Jonathan: From Presidency to global peace-maker

By EMEKA IBEMER

A pragmatic decision taken at the right time -- turned out to be what has transformed President Goodluck Jonathan from a politician to a hero. That is what his luck has done for him again after losing a general election as the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to his opponent, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. And now his name is written on the sands of time.

Since he conceded defeat to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), before the final results of the March 28, 2015, general election won by the APC could be released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan’s profile has rapidly hit the roof tops.

The recent updating of Jonathan’s profile by Wikipedia, an online search engine -- that the outgoing president did what no Nigerian politician has done before -- has raised his profile. 

According to Wikipedia, Jonathan, “born on 20 November, 1957, is a Nigerian politician who was President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015, when he conceded defeat in a competitive election, the first sitting Nigerian president to do so.”

 “Prior to his role as President, he served as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007 and as Vice-President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010.”

Jonathan has been receiving accolades from international communities, foreign leaders, captains of industry, religious leaders and moralists -- as if he had won his second term bid. Various measures of paper quantity and drums of ink have been and are still being used to write President Goodluck’s brave speech conceding defeat and telephone call to the winner of the election in the spirit of sportsmanship.

Social commentators, writers, opinion leaders, decision makers and journalists have praised the out-going President in the manner he accepted defeat without rancour. President Jonathan had earlier warned that his ambition doesn’t worth the blood of any Nigerian and always preached for peace before, during and after the election. He went ahead to implement the “Abuja Accord” for peace, which was signed by the 14 presidential candidates before international and local leaders.

The Accord reads: “We the undersigned presidential candidates of the under-listed political parties contesting in the general elections of 2015; desirous of taking proactive measures to prevent electoral violence before, during and after the elections; anxious about the maintenance of a peaceful environment for the 2015 general elections; reaffirming our commitment to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; desirous of sustaining and promoting the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria as an indivisible entity; determined to avoid any conduct or behaviour that will endanger the political stability and national security of Nigeria; determined to place national interest above personal and partisan concerns; and reaffirm our commitment to fully abide by all rules and regulations as laid down in the legal framework for elections in Nigeria, hereby commit ourselves and our party to the following . . .

“To run issue-based campaigns at national, state and local government levels; in this, we pledge to refrain from campaigns that will involve religious incitement, ethnic or tribal profiling; both ourselves and agents acting in our names, to refrain from making, or causing to make our names or that of our party, any public statements, pronouncements, declarations or speeches that have the capacity to incite any form of violence, before, during and after the elections and to commit ourselves and political parties to the monitoring of the adherence to this accord by a National Peace Committee made up of respected statesmen and women, traditional and religious leaders.”

“All institutions of government including INEC and security agencies must act and be seen to act with impartiality and to forcefully and publicly speak out against provocative utterances and oppose all acts of electoral violence whether perpetrated by our supporters and/or opponents.”

Chief Anyaoku who was part of the African leaders led by the former United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, who made all political parties and their candidates sign a peace accord for violence-free campaigns during and after the elections, said that he was not happy that after the accord, politicians still engaged in utterances which could lead to violence. He added that politicians would be taken for their words that after the elections there would be no violence.

Chief Anyaoku was asked to explain the Accord signed in Abuja, in view of the fact that there were crisis in many parts of the country concerning the elections. He said: “Well, the accord has been signed and the political leaderships have committed itself in respecting the accord. We have now put in place a committee to monitor the implementation of the accord and my hope and expectation is that this committee that has been put in place would work to hold the parties responsible and by doing so, it would diminish the level of violence.”

And true to the deeds of the Peace Accord, Jonathan after seeing where the pendulum of the election was swinging to, called and congratulated the president-elect in what has today lifted him to the next level of a peace-maker.

The Palestinian ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Montaser Abuzaid, said other emerging democracies, such as Palestine, has a lot to learn from Nigeria’s political experience, and particularly with respect to March 28 polls.

Abuzaid, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja, said Palestine was impressed by Nigeria’s progress in its efforts to build a lasting democracy. He commended Nigeria on the peaceful conduct of the 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections. Abuzaid commended Jonathan for conceding victory to Buhari to save Nigeria from looming post-election crisis.

He said though there were some hitches in the conduct of the elections in some states, Nigeria should learn from the positives of the exercise rather than dwell on the negatives. Abuzaid called on the incoming government to ensure that Nigerians enjoyed sustainable democracy.

He added that the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, had already sent congratulatory message to the president- elect, adding that Palestine remained committed to building stronger political, economic and social ties with Nigeria.

Liad Tella, a columnist, writing on Jonathan’s heroic speech, said many political analysts have said enough on the heroism of President Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan’s epoch concession speech not known in the world, and the measured and mature response of victorious GMB. I join millions of Nigerians in congratulating both of them and Nigerians who opted for change.
“Yes, it could be done if Joe had the character and impunity of OBJ, if he has the Maradonic character of IBB, and if he had the clout of a block-buster who can bulldoze opposition to submission like Mugabe of Zimbabwe. He had none of these characters and it pays the nation,” Tella stated.
“Had he consented to follow the one-term agreement, Nigerians would not appreciate the benefit, regard and integrity Nigeria now has in the comity of democratic nations. Why some may be tempted to condemn the non-observance of the gentleman’s agreement, it was to me a providential arrangement to shame those who were plotting the disintegration of Nigeria as a nation,” he wrote.
According to the columnist, “Jonathan’s action was the icing on the cake of democracy served to all Nigerians and the black race globally, adding that President Jonathan has written his and his family name in GOLD forever.
“Today, Nigeria is the third largest democracy in the world, after the US and India. Other world leaders will now come to learn from us -- whatever your political inclination . . . this is a moment of joy for our nation. Welcome to the Buhari’s Presidency! God bless Nigeria.”
Jonathan was born in what is now Bayelsa State to a family of canoe makers. Before he entered politics in 1998, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer.

Jonathan and his wife Patience, have two children. He is a Christian, and comes from the Ijaw ethnic group.

In 2007, President Jonathan declared his assets worth a total of ₦295,304,420 Naira ($1,845,652 USD).

On 29 May, 1999, Jonathan was sworn in as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa, alongside Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, who was sworn in as the governor of the state on the platform of the PDP. Jonathan served as Deputy Governor until December 2005.

On 9 December, 2005, Jonathan, who was Deputy Governor at the time, was sworn in as Governor of Bayelsa State upon the impeachment of the then Governor Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, by the Bayelsa State Assembly -- after being charged with money laundering in the United Kingdom.

As Vice-President, Jonathan took on a very low profile while recognising the constitutional limits of the Vice-President’s office. He participated in cabinet meetings and, by statute, was a member of the National Security Council, the National Defence Council, the Federal Executive Council, and was the Chairman of National Economic Council.

The then Vice-President Jonathan, was instrumental in negotiating an agreement with many of the major militant groups in the Niger Delta, who were mostly his fellow Ijaws, to lay down their weapons and stop fighting as part of a government amnesty.

On 9 February, 2010, a motion from the Nigerian Senate invested Goodluck Jonathan as acting President of the federation because President Yar'Adua was undergoing medical treatment in Saudi Arabia since November 2009.

 On 10 February, 2010, during his first day as acting president, Jonathan announced a minor cabinet reshuffle. Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, who was the Labour Minister, was named Minister of Justice, to replace Mr Mike Aondoakaa. Aondoakaa was named as the Minister of Special Duties, and his counterpart Ibrahim Kazaure, was named Minister of Labour.

As acting President, Jonathan promised to continue implementing the Seven-point agenda policy framework of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

In accordance with the order of succession in the Nigerian constitution following President Umaru Yar’Adua’s death on 5 May, 2010, then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 6 May, 2010, becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State. He cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reforms as focus of his administration. He stated that he came to office under "very sad and unusual circumstances."

On 18 May, 2010, the National Assembly approved Jonathan's nomination of former Kaduna State’s governor, Namadi Sambo, for the position of Vice-President.

On 15 September, 2010, Jonathan announced on Facebook that he had decided to run for his first ever political election to hold public office as President of Nigeria in 2011.

In the contest for the Peoples Democratic Party nomination, Goodluck Jonathan was up against the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar and Mrs. Sarah Jubril. On 13 January, 2011, the primary election results were announced at the Eagle Square, in Abuja. Jonathan was declared winner with victory in two-thirds of the states of the federation counted.

For the general election in 2011, Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo travelled round the country to campaign for the nation's highest office. Jonathan won the general election against General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate Pastor Tunde Bakare, with 59% of the votes. On 18 April, Jonathan was declared the winner of the election.

On 26 August, 2011, after the UN building in Abuja was bombed by the Boko Haram, Jonathan announced that it was not merely an attack on Nigeria, but on the international community. He told reporters that "we would work together with the UN and other world leaders to ensure that terrorism is brought under control."

In response to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta's (MEND) attack on an oil pipeline on 4 February, 2012 in Bayelsa, the Senate President, David Mark, stated that the security situation in the country is "intolerable".

On 14 May, 2013, Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern Nigerian states -- Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa -- to curtail the activities of the Boko Haram. Although initially offering amnesty, by June 2013, he ordered 20-year jail terms for anyone found to be in support of Boko Haram.

On 16 January, 2014, it was reported that Jonathan had sacked his military high command in response to their inability to end the Islamist-led insurgency in Northern Nigeria.

Jonathan's administration has been pressured to bring back the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram. There have been several demonstrations calling for the government to be more responsive, and Jonathan has asked that the demonstrators focus on blaming Boko Haram itself for the abductions. Jonathan at one stage signalled his government would do a prisoner release in exchange for the kidnapped girls. Discussions then took place in Paris with foreign ministers from France, Britain, the United States and Israel -- where he agreed no deals should be struck with terrorists. He then called off the exchange at the last minute on 24 May, 2014. This about-turn reportedly enraged Boko Haram leaders.  On 2 August, 2010, Jonathan launched his 'Roadmap for Power Sector Reform‘. Its primary goal was to achieve stable electricity supply in Nigeria.

Historically, the Nigerian power sector has been plagued by blackouts. Economists estimate that the power outages cost Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy, billions of dollars on imported diesel for generators and in lost output. Indeed, in a study conducted by the World Bank, lack of access to financing and electricity were cited as Nigeria's main hurdle to development, over-passing corruption.

Jonathan has been overseeing the privatisation of the country's power sector. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria, which acted as the national electricity provider, has been broken up into 15 firms -- with Nigeria handing over control of state electricity assets to 15 private bidding companies.

The Nigerian government contracted the services of CPCS Transcom Limited, a Canada-based consulting firm specialising in transportation and energy infrastructure projects, to act as the transaction adviser for the handover of Nigeria’s electricity assets.

On 11 October, 2011, President Jonathan launched the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) Initiative, which he stated would be an innovative business plan that will harness the creative energies of young people between the ages of 18 and 35. The YOUWIN initiative was expected to create between 40,000 to 50,000 sustainable jobs by 2014.

In 2011, President Jonathan launched the Transformation Agenda. The Transformation Agenda is based on a summary of how the Federal Government hopes to deliver projects, programmes, and key priority policies, from 2011 to 2015 coordinated by the National Planning Commission (NPC).

According to President Jonathan, Nigeria's foreign policy was reviewed to reflect a “citizen-focused” foreign policy designed to “accord this vision of defending the dignity of humanity the highest priority" and connect foreign policy to domestic policy while placing greater emphasis on economic diplomacy.

On 31 March, 2015, Jonathan conceded the Presidential election to challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, who will be sworn in to succeed him on 29 May, 2015.