Jonathan: The Squandering of Goodluck

JONATHAN

THE SQUANDERING OF GOODLUCK

© 2015

By

MOSHOOD ADEMOLA FAYEMIWO, PhD

&

MARGIE MARIE NEAL, Ed.D

© Copyright 2015 Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo and Margie Marie Neal

All rights reserved, including the rights of production in whole or in part in any form

JONATHAN: THE SQUANDERING OF GOODLUCK The unauthorized biography of Dr Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan, GCFR President and Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

Photography Credits on cover, Presidential Villa, State House Aso Rock Abuja, Nigeria

Cover Design by Olanre Francis

ISBN: 0-9701349-7-7

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DEDICATION

PRESIDENT Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan was helped to power as substantive president following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in summer 2010 by majority of Nigerians. Nigerians picketed and staged rallies to uphold the nation’s constitution and ensured Mr. Jonathan became president. In the 2011 Presidential election, they reaffirmed their faith and confidence in Mr. Jonathan when they voted him as substantive president. But five years in power, the expectations and yearnings of most Nigerians in Mr. Jonathan have diminished: insecurity, poverty, run-away inflation, terrorism, corruption, lawlessness and maladministration have accentuated. This biography is dedicated to these hardworking Nigerian citizens, who against all overwhelming odds, still hold out hope for their nation. The forthcoming 2015 Presidential Election will afford Nigerians the opportunity to shape their future and their collective destiny as a people.

♦

SPECIAL THANKS TO HIS EXCELLENCY OGBENI RAUF ADESOJI AREGBESOLA,

THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF OSUN STATE FOR THE PRODUCTION AND PRINTING OF THIS BOOK

AUTHORS’ NOTES

WE DECIDED TO write the first and only unauthorized biography of President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan of Nigeria for three main reasons. First, this is the first time in the history of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-tribal nation as diverse as Nigeria is demonstrating to the world that any person from any tribe out of the more than 250 tribes and tongues that make up the Nigerian nation can have a shot at the highest office in the land: the presidency of Nigeria. One of the dominant issues in Third World nations, especially in Africa is the problem of tribal warfare which is often ignited when major ethnic tribes monopolize political power and subjugate the minority tribes. African contemporary history is replete with the monopolization of political power by dominant tribes which have ignited inter-tribal wars in most cases leading to genocides. The best way the Nigerian nation can perfect the Nigerian project is to ensure that no person is denied the legitimate right to aspire to the position of president on account of the person’s religion, sex, tribe or ethnicity. The United States of America demonstrated to the world in 2008 when Americans of all races; Caucasian, Black, Hispanics, Asian, Native Indians and Pacific Islanders eschewed all forms of biases and racial discrimination and evaluated the two contenders for president: Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator. Barrack Obama (D-IL) purely on their individual merits and chose the candidate suited for the job. They voted Mr. Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States. Nigerians of all persuasions might have considered the idea of a president from a minority ethnic tribe preposterous, yet under a democracy, what actually matters is any person who can provide good leadership irrespective of his/her state of origin, or which part of Nigeria he/she was born, creed or sex.

Second, we looked at the leadership qualities of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Providential Hands that catapulted him into the presidency and came to the conclusion his story is indeed unique in our contemporary world. No matter one’s religious persuasion or belief, it is more than mere coincidences and luck for a politician to rise from the position of a deputy governor, governor, and vice president and finally president of a nation without contesting for any of the positions. Whether one likes it or not, it bears testimony to the view that there is an Unseen Hand Shepherding each and every one of us to certain roles and responsibilities in each of our corner of the world. The only known person in history whose rise to the presidency of his nation resembles that of President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria was President Gerald Rudolph Ford of the United States. As Speaker House of Representatives in 1974, Mr. Ford was nominated by President Richard Nixon to replace Vice-President Spiro Agnew on October 10, 1973 after Mr. Agnew resigned as a result of bribery scandal. Then on November 9, 1974, President Nixon himself had to resign as President as a result of the Watergate Scandal thus paving the way for Mr. Ford to become President of the United States. He did not contest for any of these positions except his first and only election as a congressman representing Grand Rapids, Michigan into the House of Representatives in 1949.

At his inauguration on that day in Washington, DC, Mr. Ford told his fellow Americans: My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here, the people rule. But there is a higher power, by whatever name we honor Him. Who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice, but mercy.... Let us restore the golden rule to our political process and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and hate. President Jonathan has never contested for any of the posts he has held except the 2011 Presidential Election. As a sitting president who contested against candidates in his ruling party in 2011 with questionable past with much political baggage, the authors examined the political complexities of Nigeria and how President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan won the 2011 President Election with a fresh 4-year mandate to govern Nigeria, and how he has administered Nigeria for 5 years

Thirdly, we embarked on this ambitious goal of writing the biography of the president of Africa’s most populous nation because of posterity. The various governments that have governed Nigeria since 1960, especially the military have not given the development of education its rightful place in the nation building. Scholarship which is the engine that fuels innovation and development has not been encouraged, because of institutional disabilities confronting intellectuals, men and women of ideas in Nigeria. Consequently, most of the books about contemporary Nigeria have been authored by foreigners. As academics and writers living and working in the United States, this work is our modest contribution to redress this trend. As the first Nigerian president to hold a Doctorate degree, we had hoped that President Jonathan would invest heavily in the nation’s education so that Nigeria can produce the next set of thinkers and men and women of ideas who will take the nation to greater heights in the 21st century. But alas, Mr. Jonathan frittered away the unique opportunities to make a difference in the education sector. Even as a PhD holder, Mr. Jonathan failed the academic community and Nigerians as a whole. As one political commentator and former university president in Nigeria remarked, Mr. Jonathan was a disgrace to PhD holders.

Finally, we embarked on this work as a postmortem of the Jonathan Presidency in five years. Although Mr. Goodluck Jonathan took over the reins of governance in Africa’s most populous nation fortuitously in 2010 and expectations were high, Nigerians at home and abroad and those who wish Nigeria well had high hopes that Mr. Jonathan would steer Nigeria on a different course against the background of the nation’s torrid reputation around the world. But five years as president, things have gone from bad to worse. Nigerians are complaining. The forthcoming 2015 presidential election is an ample opportunity for Nigerians to change course. Nigeria needs a new breed of political leadership; new men and women with fresh ideas and new thinking to pilot the affairs of Africa’s most populous nation. We have written this unauthorized biography with objective and unbiased mind and clinical dissection of the various issues that should and would dominate the 2015 Presidential Election and why Nigeria must turn a new leaf. All inaccuracies and errors are entirely ours.

FOREWORD

BY

HIS EXCELLENCY PROF. ADEBOWALE IBIDAPO ADEFUYE

A FAMOUS PHILOSOPHER once wrote, Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan was not born great but he achieved greatness. Fate and circumstances combined to thrust greatness upon him. He grew up in an average family in Otuoke, Ogbia in Bayelsa in South-South Nigeria but such was the seriousness of purpose and commitment to whatever task he chose to undertake that he successfully utilized the inherent intellectual qualities in him to attain the highest academic qualification that was available to any human being. This was how he came into public life armed with three (3) degrees from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. That greatness that was thrust in him was evident in the manner in which Providence dictated the pattern of events in his political life. A brilliant performance as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State made him the natural choice for the post of Governor when the incumbent fell on evil days. The manner in which he became the running mate to late President Umaru Yar’Adua could only have been designed by Fate.

The emergence of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan as Acting President and later President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are seen by all around him as events that had been ordained by God Almighty. Dr Goodluck is a clear and living demonstration of the manner in which successful utilization of inherent natural qualities blessed by Fate, Fortune and Providence, could project one into both national and international prominence. His first trip to the United States of America in 2010 as Acting President, in which I had the privilege to be involved in the planning, clearly showed how a man could seem to have been prepared by God Almighty to attain the highest political position in his country.

Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s natural intellect combined with opportunities Providence has provided for in public life was evident in his discussions with the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama, the Vice-President, Mr. Joe Biden; the Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Rodham Clinton, technocrats, and politicians in the United States of America. That trip to the United States rebranded and revived Nigeria’s flagging image in the most politically influential city in the world. From there, there was no going back on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan actions to make the Federal Republic of Nigeria live up to her destiny as the Black man’s model country. Some of the steps that have been taken so far by President Goodluck Jonathan constitute genuine attempts at removing the fundamental weakness in Nigeria’s political, economic and social life and in the process set the Federal Republic of Nigeria on an irreversible course to make the nation attain a giant stride and fulfill the objectives of Vision 2020. It is not therefore surprising why millions of Nigerians from all walks of life both within Nigeria and Diaspora are urging for sustainability and continuity of President Goodluck Jonathan’s promises.

The details of these activities would be seen in this book. I wish you a pleasant reading.

PROF. ADEBOWALE IBIDAPO ADEFUYE

NIGERIA’S AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, DC, USA.

INTRODUCTION

"PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN IS A MAN OF UNCOMMON LOYALTY,

IMPECCABLE INTEGRITY, AND AN IMMENSE COMMITMENT TO NIGERIA AND TO

THE WELFARE OF THE NIGERIAN PEOPLE" –

Howard Franklin Jeter, US Ambassador to Nigeria (2000-2003)

NIGERIA IS THE most populous nation in Africa. This giant of Africa is blessed with abundant human and natural resources but since Nigeria attained political independence from the British Colonial authorities nearly 55 years ago, the nation has been dogged by ethnic parochialism, tribal jingoism and other viviparous crises. Many have wondered about the doggedness and resilience of the Nigerian people against the backdrop of the multifarious problems besetting the nation. Among the myriad of problems that confront Nigeria since 1960 is political leadership. After political independence, the quest for the right political leadership has sometimes almost brought the country to the brink. The story of this giant of Africa has been that of the domination of political power by a section of the country. The ethnic schisms between the minority and majority groups in Nigeria are so intense that virtually every policy is seen from the prism of this tribal bifurcation. The ethnic minority groups do not have any sense of political belonging in the larger Nigerian nation partly because all past Nigerian presidents and heads of state, except one, were from the three largest tribes of Hausa-Fulani, Ibo and Yoruba. In spite of the fact that over 90 percent of Nigeria’s main foreign exchange earner: oil, comes from the minority areas, yet no person from that part of Nigeria has ever become the president of Nigeria till 2010.

This is where the story of Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan begins. He is from the ethnic minority Ijaw people of South-western and South-eastern Nigeria. His rise from being a Deputy Governor in his home state of Bayelsa, State governor, Vice-President, Acting President and finally president of Nigeria are seen by many as simply propelled by divine intervention. As events in his life and his name seem to suggest, President Goodluck Jonathan is a man staggeringly blessed with plenty of good luck. What cannot be said, however, is that it was simply good luck that landed him the highly coveted position of the president of the richest and most populous nation in Africa. As the first PhD holder ever in the history of Nigeria to become the Number One Citizen, most Nigerians thought that behind the Spartan discipline of this quiet man would be a hard worker whose track record would speak for itself between 2010 and 2015 as president. His meteoric rise to power, many Nigerians had thought in 2010 would bear testimony to what Thomas Jefferson (17431826), the 3rd president of the United States of America once said, I am a great believer in luck, and the harder I work the more I have of it. The story of this Nigerian captivates from the beginning till the end, revealing how a delicate blend of elements of loyalty, luck, hard work and dedication to duty propelled Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan to the highest office in Nigeria in 2010 following the demise of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

In Jonathan; The Squandering of Goodluck, read of his humble beginning from his village of Otuoke, his formative years in Ogbia Kingdom; his elementary school years in Oloibiri where crude oil was first discovered in Nigeria on Sunday January 15, 1956-a year before Goodluck Jonathan was born-his secondary school years at Imiringi; his university years at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State; his teaching career at Rivers State College of Education where he met his wife Patience and future First Lady of Nigeria; his years as an environ-mentalist at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) from where he was called by his kinsmen and women in Ogbia Kingdom to join the Bayelsa State gubernatorial ticket of retired Air Force Officer, Mr. Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha (DPS) in 1999 as deputy governor. This biography took the reader through the period when the mantle of leadership as Nigeria’s presidency fortuitously fell on Mr. Jonathan’s shoulders in 2010. The biography examined the unprecedented goodwill and groundswell of national and international support that Mr. Jonathan received in his efforts to step into the shoes of deceased President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010 and the expectations that greeted his presidency. But five years after Mr. Jonathan promised Nigerians a plateful of promises; from fixing Nigeria’s discombobulated electricity supply, reigning in the tumorous cancer of corruption, exterminate public waste, provide security, eradicate poverty, provide jobs, and create the enabling environment for commerce, private enterprise and national cohesion, Mr. Jonathan has squandered enormous good luck and good will. As Nigeria prepares for another presidential election in 2015, the jury is out, both within and outside Nigeria that Mr. Goodluck Jonathan has foundered as president and should step aside for a fresh face and new helmsman to pilot the political life of Africa’s giant. This is what this unauthorized biography of President Jonathan is all about and more.

Jonathan; the Squandering of Goodluck is the first authoritative and the only definitive unauthorized biography of Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, the President and Commander–in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria between 2010 and 2015.

JONATHAN: THE SQUANDERING OF GOODLUCK

IN SUMMER 2010, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan garnered unprecedented support among Nigerians and enormous goodwill from the international community in his epic battle to succeed the late President Umaru Yar’Adua as president. Propelled to power by his nation’s local compradors and the doctrine of necessity in a country buffeted by sundry fissiparous tendencies, Mr. Jonathan, a minority from the Ijaw tribe won the 2011 Presidential Election convincingly in his own right and became Nigeria’s substantive president. Nigeria has managed to remain intact under Mr. Jonathan, but five years after he became president, Mr. Jonathan has alienated key go-to-power brokers and squandered the good luck that helped him to power. His prevarication and dour personality, inaction and dithering administrative style are fueling more viviparous pulls dogging the corporate existence of Africa’s most populous nation. Whether Mr. Jonathan wins the forthcoming presidential elections in 2015 or gets the shellacking of his political life is for the Nigerian people to decide, but whatever the outcome of the election, the next four years will be extremely critical for Nigeria as a nation against the backdrop of the smorgasbord of problems that will confront the Nigerian leadership and the swirl of economic problems that will face majority of Nigerians.

In Jonathan; The Squandering of Goodluck, the authors traced the life history of the president of Africa’s largest economy, his birth and formative years in his rustic Otuoke village in the petrol-rich South-eastern part of Nigeria and his meteoric rise to the epicenter of his nation’s political life. The biography is a concatenation of past events masterfully woven into the present and how events in the immediate future will shape Nigeria as a nation and Mr. Jonathan as president. Indeed, the history of the Nigerian nation and that of Mr. Jonathan as a politician are intricately linked. How both will play out after 2015 is the leitmotif of this first authoritatively-researched and comprehensively-written biography of Mr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan.

GOODLUCK EBELE AZIKIWE JONATHAN: THE ANATOMY OF SQUANDERING OF GOOD LUCK

NIGERIA IS THE most populous Black nation on earth and the seventh in the world. Prodigiously blessed with abundant human and natural resources, this Africa’s stunted giant has not lived up to her potentials because of bad leadership. After two democratic falls (1960-1966) and (1979-1983), and a 3-year internecine fratricidal war, Africa’s open sore has been bedeviled by venal leadership, stratospheric corruption, military dictatorship, viviparous pulls and ethnic-religious crises throughout much of the ‘80s and ‘90s. After wobbling from one crisis to the other, Nigeria finally got her acts together-so it seemed-in 1999 when the military returned to the barracks and ceded the stage for a democratically-elected government. With Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler returned to power as an elected president in 1999, term limit under American-style presidential system copied by Nigeria forced Mr. Obasanjo to stand down in 2007 paving the way for Mr. Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his successor. Unfortunately, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died two years later into his first term in 2010, which once more paved the way for a new helmsman; Dr Goodluck Jonathan. Mr. Jonathan, a former university teacher from the oil-rich Niger-Delta fortuitously stepped into deceased President Yar’Adua’s shoes as president in summer 2010 after intense jockeying, backhand and subterranean negotiations brokered by the United States and the UK. The following year, Mr. Jonathan coasted home to victory during the 2011 presidential election in his own right for a 4year term. But five years on the saddle-including the one year he acted as president-, Mr. Jonathan has fared worse than his predecessors. He has accentuated Nigeria’s prebendal politics of cozying up mostly to his Ijaw ethnic jingoists and has completely alienated the power-brokers that helped him to power. Cavalierly clueless on how to reign in the contumacious elements threatening Nigeria’s corporate existence and presiding over Nigeria’s worst corrupt administration, Mr. Jonathan has squandered the enormous goodwill and good luck that brought him to power in 2011.

The authors were in Nigeria in 2010 and 2011, mostly in Abuja and Mr. Goodluck Jonathan’s ancestral Otuoke birthplace in the oil-rich Niger Delta Region for the first and unarguably, the only unauthorized biography of Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. In this unauthorized biography, the authors interviewed those who knew Mr. Jonathan in his formative years, his classmates at St. Stevens Elementary School, Otuoke; St. Michael Primary School, Oloibiri and his secondary school years at Mater Dei High School, Imiringi in Ogbia Kingdom. We followed Jonathan to the Nigerian Customs and Excise where he worked in 1974; his admission as first set of undergraduate students at the University of Port Harcourt in 1977 and his years at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program at Iresi Town in present-day Osun State in 1981. We spoke to his family members and those who knew Mr. Jonathan intimately during his master’s and doctoral programs at the University of Port Harcourt and how he met his future wife; Patience Fakabelema Iwari-Oba, who was one of his students at the Rivers State College of Education in 1983. The concatenation of events that led to the choice of Dr Goodluck Jonathan as deputy governor to Mr. Diepreye Solomon Alamieyeseigha in (1999-2005) and the intrigues that catapulted him from deputy governor to governor of Bayelsa State and later as vice-president to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and his job performance in five years as president between 20101 and 2015 were exhaustively narrated in this book. But there is more. The biography is masterfully woven as part of Nigeria’s contemporary history thus, the book looks forward to the fate of Mr. Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election in 2015 and the forces arrayed against his reelection. The authors spoke to some administration officials here in the United States and the UK and how the contextual forces would shape the futures of Mr. Jonathan and Nigeria which obviously are intricately linked.

PRAISE FOR JONATHAN: THE SQUANDERING OF GOOD LUCK

"I WAS ONE OF the leaders of Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) as Publicity Secretary and at one time, Acting General Secretary during the First Republic. It has been our tradition after fighting bitter political fights with our opponents to accord them recognition whenever a winner emerges. It is in this light that I have accepted to comment on this book and commend its authors in spite of my initial opposition to the emergence of Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan GCFR as the Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as I religiously believe in the principle of zoning and rotation which we as members of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) introduced in Nigeria, as far back as 1978. This is not because I have anything personal against Dr Jonathan but because as a matter of principle, I believe coming from the South-South, the PDP should have allowed the North to complete its 8- year tenure as agreed upon by the party after the Presidency had stayed in the South for 8 consecutive years. At my age, I am supposed to know that the game is over for now. This is not the end of Nigeria. I, therefore, wish to appeal to every Nigerian to ensure that our President is given all the support and encouragement he needs to transform our nation for the better.

The 2011 presidential election has been conducted and Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan as our President and at an epoch making event on Sunday May 29, 2011 he was inaugurated as the fourth Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As I have said in the past, we are in a democracy where the minority would have their say, while the majority would have their way. Now that Nigeria has conducted free, fair and transparent elections under the leadership of Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman of Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and President Jonathan has been given fresh four-year mandate by the Nigerian people, we must all give him every possible support for him to fully implement his programs in the overall interest of Nigeria and our people. President Jonathan should assemble a team of tested hands that shared in his vision so that our great country can progress and occupy her rightful place in the comity of nations. Every patriotic Nigerian should join him in his transformational agenda for our nation. This call has been heeded by most Nigerians both at home and abroad to coalesce around Mr. President to move our nation forward.

The authors have chronicled the most up-to-date authoritative and well-researched biography of President Goodluck Jonathan in this regard. They took it upon themselves to tell the story of Mr. President beginning from his ancestral home of Otuoke, Ogbia Kingdom in Bayelsa State, and his years in public service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to his rise to the most important position in our nation: the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am indeed delighted to be asked by the authors to comment on this work. After perusing through the book, I wish to commend the authors of this important book for the painstaking efforts they have told the story of Mr. President and urge all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria including those who mean no ill-will toward us to read this important book about our President and his transformational agenda for our country.

Alhaji Tanko Yakassai OFR (Elder Statesman)

Former Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters to President Shehu Shagari (19791983); Member, Board of Trustees, Arewa Consultative Forum.

As I have said in the past while making public declaration of my total and unflinching support to President Goodluck Jonathan, I once stated that it was the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and first Premier of Northern Region and the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, first Prime Minister of Independent Nigeria and their friends from the South- South such as Chief Festus Okoti-Eboh that brought about the existing relationship between the people of the North and the people of the South-South. It is imperative on us to maintain it. It is my sincere belief that the 2011 presidential election should be the acid test for building this strong political relationship between people of the North and our brothers and sisters of the South. Nigerians from all the six geopolitical zones and especially the people of the North demonstrated with their votes in the 2011 Presidential Elections when they said What both the late Sir Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa put together let no one put asunder. I commend this book to all Nigerians who earnestly desire a more united, stable, peaceful and prosperous nation and all peoples of the world who are genuinely interested in learning more about Nigeria and its leadership.—His Excellency Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, CFR, Deputy Governor, Sokoto State, Government House, Sokoto.

I am glad to report that under President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the executive and legislative arms have had the best working relationship in the history of Nigeria. This excellent working relationship is a welcome departure from the past, which led to the collapse of our political systems. President Jonathan is a very deep person… a deep thinker of immense proportion and the problem with some Nigerians is that they get carried away by his simplicity but he’s very firm on issues and his mantra is the rule of law; he preaches and practices it and that speaks volume of President Jonathan’s personality.

—Dr Olabode Wilfred Olajumoke, Senator (PDP-Ondo North), Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Senate Chambers, National Assembly, Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999-2011).

I must commend the authors for taking this noble initiative of trying to document for posterity, the biography of the man, Goodluck Jonathan…We are looking for a change; Goodluck Jonathan is not the creation of any political system or anybody, he is the design of Almighty Allah. We cannot challenge God’s will and left for Nigerian politics, he will not be there, but God in His infinite mercy said; this time around I am going to intervene in Nigerian politics and bring you somebody who is entirely new and unknown to lead this country to the Promised Land and that man is Dr Goodluck Jonathan —Major-General Abubakar Tanko Ayuba, mni (Rtd.) Senator (PDP-Kebbi South),Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Senate Chambers, National Assembly, Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999-2011).

"President Jonathan is a humble man with a rare display of strong intelligence with the rare combination of humility and good governance, a former university don, and a first class material from the University of Port Harcourt — a born leader. I saw a rare sagacity of governance in President Jonathan. A man of uncommon loyalty, very trustworthy and full of confidence" — Barrister Chukwuemeka Ngozichineke Wogu, FNIM, Honorable Minister of Labor and Productivity, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2010-2014) and Acting Minister of Interior / Internal Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2010-2011).

President Jonathan is a gentleman, an astute administrator. His disposition is impeccable and most importantly, he is someone who has Nigeria at heart. I tell you most times when we meet, the President allows you to do the talking. I just sit down and study the gentleman. What I do know is that he is a human being. Behind that Presidential façade or outlook, you can see a human being that is an honest Nigerian; totally detribalized. You can see him getting passionate, getting very, very passionate about taking Nigeria to greater heights. That has always been his pre-occupation since I met him as the President of this country.—Prof. Abubakar Kao’je Mohammed, Honorable Minister of Science and Technology, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2010-2011).

I found President Jonathan a man of steel whose appearance belies his inner strength. He looks calm. People have mistaken him to be weak because he doesn’t talk; he’s not military–looking because our psyches have been so militarized in Nigeria that when we see a gentleman we don’t recognize him. What we think of a gentleman here is someone riding slipshod on us, shouting and howling. The President is a man of great value system. A complete gentleman, his mien looks soft but he’s a strong man. A good listener, a patient man of great depth, a democrat to the core and a perfect gentleman with strong convictions… —Barrister Iyom Josephine N. Anenih, mni, FNIM, Former PDP National Woman Leader; Honorable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2010-2011)

President Jonathan is a man I know right from the time he was Vice-President. I found him a down-to-heart gentleman, simple, a man of his words and very likable. He’s a happily married family man, we attend the same church and he is a man of God, prayerful and full of faith…. I have interacted with him one-on-one and have seen from close range the work of God Almighty in President Jonathan’s life. —Architect Nuhu Somo Wya, Honorable Minister of Power, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011)

The President Jonathan, Goodluck Ebele I know is a very articulate, humble, unassuming, honest, sincere and dependable leader who loves Nigeria and all it stands for. It’s been a privilege to work with such a nice gentleman, a leader the followership (the troops) will on any day willingly follow to the battle front of progress, development and national transformation—Chief Obadiah Ando Honorable Minister of Water Resources, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011)

I commend the authors for the patriotic and painstaking efforts they have undertaken to document for posterity, the life and times of this great Nigerian who is on the threshold of history to transform Nigeria. I make bold to predict that after President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s presidency, Nigeria will be a better country and will not remain the same again.—His Excellency Ambassador Dr Godknows Boladei Igali, OON Former Nigerian Ambassador to the Nordic (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, and now Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria.

I believe President Goodluck Jonathan is one of the greatest Nigerian politicians around because of the gentlemanly and dignified manner he conducted himself during the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua sickness. Imagine the cabal so shabbily treated this man who was then Vice President on the same joint ticket with Yar’Adua and yet he was smiling and shrugged it off for the sake of the unity of this nation. That was unprecedented and all Nigerians should credit him for such political maturity and his love for the unity of this nation. That is why those of us in the North wholeheartedly supported this man in the April 16, 2011 Presidential Election. He will be a great President and I praise the efforts of the authors for this wonderful book.—Hon. Sidi H. Ali, Member House of Representatives (PRP-Kano), in the Second Republic (1979-1983), Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I see President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan as a very powerful person yet he does not fight. Where I come from (I am from Benin), it is like you have a very pretty woman that does not flirt, we compare that with a very strong man yet he does not fight. That’s the way I see Mr. President. He has all it takes to do too many things yet he’s very strategic. You know power; the ability to control power is a virtue. I see this man as a very meek, very quiet, very humble, and very God- fearing but tough. I enjoy one thing in him; he believes in due process, he believes in the rule of law. Yet I see behind that façade a man who can equally be very tough. One particular instance was a day in the Federal Executive Council where the issue of South East (Aba) was recurring, I knew his position. On that day I said yes, this guy looks quiet but you don’t take it to the other extreme. So, he is a very strategic man.—Engr. Chris Ogiemwinyi Minister of State for Works, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011)

"When we were growing up in our village at Otuoke, in Ogbia Kingdom here, I never thought or imagined that my elder brother would one day become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria… my elder brother was and still is a very simple man; very quiet, unassuming and highly protective of me as his younger brother. I learned how to respect elders from him. I learned humility and obedience from Goodluck. We both learned how to carve canoe, how to fish and farm together from our late father. When we were growing up, I never saw my brother with a woman. He didn’t have a girlfriend. He was totally obedient to our father’s advice that constantly told him to face his studies. I am happy that my elder brother Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is the President and Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria.—His Royal Highness Honorable Goodnews Sokari Amaminiefa, The Owada II of Okodi, Ogbia Kingdom, Younger Brother of Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR President and Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria during an interview at Otuoke, Bayelsa State.

Goodluck and I attended the same elementary school here in Otuoke; we were at Oloibiri together and were also in secondary school together although he was a year my senior but we have remained close ever since…From the time we were growing up, Ebele was the quiet type. Even though he was a boxer then but he was not rough as some of us were in those days. Nigeria is indeed fortunate to have such a humble yet focused, decisive, firm; intellectually engaged and cerebrally-disposed mind as President at this moment in our history as a nation and in the next four years Nigeria will change for good under Jonathan Presidency.—His Highness, Hon. Augustus Elliot Osomu, Paramount Ruler of Imiringi, Ogbia Kingdom, Bayelsa State and Childhood Friend Who Grew Up and Age mate Who Schooled With President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (1963-1970) and former Leader, Bayelsa State House of Assembly.

Do you know throughout the four years he was Deputy Governor here in Bayelsa State, Jonathan never traveled out once? While the Governor was gallivanting all over the place, Jonathan stayed here in Bayelsa to attend to some issues and people. A very humble man, do you know Jonathan doesn’t have a house or bank account anywhere abroad? Do you know his children attend school right here in Nigeria? Have you been to his house which is still under construction in Otuoke? That is a man who has been a Deputy Governor, Acting Governor, Governor, and Vice-President of Nigeria, Acting President and now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? You saw the house; a Local Government Chairman in Nigeria has a bigger and more expensive house than that. He hasn’t even finished it. That is the Goodluck Jonathan that I grew up with, schooled together in Otuoke, Oloibiri and Imiringi and knew for over fifty years now. He is unassuming; he is not greedy; he is not wayward, he doesn’t womanize and simplicity is his strongest virtue.—Hon. Benson Sunday Agadaga, Classmate and Friend of President Goodluck Jonathan for over thirty years and Commissioner for Information and Communication Bayelsa State(1999-2003) Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Dr Goodluck Jonathan is a wonderful person, wonderful specie of human being because you can think about everything good when you think about him. A very humble man very committed, very intelligent and one of his strongest points is simplicity. I am not with him now at Aso Rock but I know that no amount of rainfall will change the dark spot of a leopard. The man Dr Goodluck Jonathan that I know right from Otuoke here in Ogbia Kingdom, Bayelsa State and who I worked with at the Government House in Bayelsa is still the same as President of Nigeria. There was no one day I felt my boss was the bossy type, he was always willing to learn from you his subordinate, and this was most astonishing when I worked with him. He is not Dr-Knows-it-All and that is the type of leader we need right now in the history of our nation and I am happy Nigerians voted for him— Okpoitari Diongoli, MNIPR, Chief Press Secretary to President Goodluck Jonathan when he was Deputy Governor and Governor of Bayelsa State(1999-2007) and General Manager, Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation, Ekeki Yenagoa, Bayelsa

My uncle is a transformational President who will change Nigeria forever; a very humble and unassuming intellectual who will democratize opportunities for all Nigerians. The name Ebele means ‘strength’ ‘fire’ and could also mean ‘change.’ He got the name because of the strength his father displayed in bringing him up as the first boy and raising his family. A man who was never tired; a man who had to paddle canoe for several hours; walked inside the bush for several kilometers to cut down trees so Ebele is not somebody who is soft; he is a hard man of the chip off the block which belies the erroneous impression most Nigerians have of him as a soft man—Dr Bruce Joseph Kamio, President & CEO Goodluck Action Partners International (GAP), Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organization and nephew of President Goodluck Jonathan, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State

Dr Goodluck Jonathan is a very simple, humble and unassuming person. His position as the President of this great nation did not change his character or behavioral pattern. It is not easy for people not to change when they occupy higher positions. I am indeed humbled by his attitude. He can be trusted when he gives his word on anything; if you give him anything to keep, it’s certain it is very safe. He is a man of vision and believes strongly in the transformation of Nigeria…This is a great book for posterity and is highly recommended.—Hon (Barrister) Nadu S. Karibo, Majority Leader, Bayelsa State House of Assembly and PDP House of Representative Member, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011-2015).

Dr Goodluck Jonathan is a very simple man. You would not even know when he enters an arena during events; you will not hear siren unlike what we used to have in the past. He is very intelligent, brilliant and he knows what he wants. He always knows what he wants in anything; that is the quality of a leader. As a leader your vision must be higher than that of the people that are around you so that you will not be moved into doing something else. I am confident that now that he is there he would show the hidden qualities of a Bayelsan and an Ijaw man. This is what we have been waiting for and God will surely reward the authors for documenting this for posterity in this biography.— Chief (Dr) Bob Nabena, Member Goodluck Action Partners International (GAP) and Chairman, Host Communities of Nigeria, Bayelsa State Chapter Ovon, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Dr Goodluck Jonathan has been at the forefront of the fight for attention by the Host Communities right from when he was here as the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State and he knows everything about the Host communities from marginalization to total neglect. We know he will work out many things that will benefit the Host Communities. He has started them already and we are happy about that. The entire Nigeria will be transformed in no time under the Jonathan Presidency and the Niger Delta man will be at the limelight after many years of being in the dark. We know he will carry the Host Communities along and being part of his plans will stop illegal bunkering and end restiveness in the region. I commend the authors of the definitive biography of Mr. President for a job well done…—High Chief Style Tamara Benjamin, PhD, National Vice-Chairman, Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil & Gas and the Akpolokpolo of Sagbama Local Government Area, Mein Kingdom, Bayelsa State.

"President Goodluck Jonathan is a true Bayelsan and a true Nigerian. It is a good thing to have him there