Former President Goodluck Jonathan has spoken of the tensed moments he faced on March 28, 2015 ahead of his decision to concede victory to President Muhammadu Buhari after that year’s presidential election.

“I was actually in that valley on March 28, 2015”, he said.

Jonathan also narrated why he relinquished power to Buhari, saying he did not want Nigeria to slide into a theatre of war, with his fellow county men and woman dying, and many more pouring into other nations in Africa and beyond, as refugees.

“I never knew that the human brain had the capacity for such enhanced rapid thinking. One hundred and one things were going through my mind every second. My country was at the verge of collapse. The tension in the land was abysmally high and palpable, in the months leading to the election. The country became more polarised more than ever before, such that the gap between the North and the South and between Christians and Muslims became quite pronounced”, the former President said.

“In fact, it became so disturbing that some interest groups in the United States began to predict indeed, many Nigerians did buy into this doomsday prophesy as they began to brace themselves for the worst.

“As the President, I reminded myself that the Government I led had invested so much effort into building our country. I worked hard with my top officials to encourage Nigerians and non-Nigerians to invest in our country to be able to provide jobs and improve the lives of our people.

“We worked hard to grow our economy and to improve and bring Nigeria up as the biggest economy in Africa, with a GDP of about half a trillion dollars”.

Jonathan told his story, last week, during a dinner in his honour by Cercle Diplomatique, Geneva, Switzerland. The former President also spoke about his foray into politics, the allure of power and future plans.





Jonathan and Naomi King



He began: “ As you can see, I have not come here with a prepared speech, since what I consider appropriate for this occasion is to just thank you all, members and everyone else in attendance, in a few words, for the dinner and the award, in order not to make the evening look boring. But having said that, I am still tempted to note that if I were to present a written speech, the title, would probably have been “Power Tussle in Africa: A Stumbling Block to Economic Growth.” When Mr. Robert Blum, your President, made his very interesting opening remarks, he introduced me as the former President of Nigeria. He was absolutely correct.


My foray into politics

“However, I believe that not many of you here know that the story of my foray into politics has a peculiar ring to it. I entered politics in 1998 and, barely one year after, I got elected as the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa, my state. I later became Governor, Vice President and eventually got elected as the President of my country. I remain the only leader in my country to have travelled that route.

As the President, I served out my first term but, as Mr. Blum had pointed out earlier, I lost the bid to be re-elected. I am encouraged by the fact that many of you here appreciated my decision not to reject or contest my loss at the polls, not even in the courts as many people had expected.

The allure of power

“Again, I have to agree with Blum that it was not an easy decision to take. This is because the allure of power and the worries about what would become of you after leaving office constitute an irresistible

force. It has an attraction so controlling and powerful that it takes a man who has the fear of God and who loves his people and nation to relinquish power so easily in Africa.

Alone in the valley

“I was actually in that valley on March 28, 2015. I never knew that the human brain had the capacity for such enhanced rapid thinking. One hundred and one things were coursing through my mind every second. My country was at the verge of collapse. The tension in the land was abysmally high and palpable, in the months and days leading to the election. The country became more polarized more than ever before, such that the gap between the North and the South and between Christians and Muslims became quite pronounced. In fact, it became so disturbing that some interest groups in the United States began to predict that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2015. And, indeed, many Nigerians did buy into this doomsday prophesy as they began to brace themselves for the worst. As the President, I reminded myself that the Government I led had invested so much effort into building our country. I worked hard with my top officials to encourage Nigerians and non-Nigerians to invest in our country to be able to provide jobs and improve the lives of our people. We worked hard to grow our economy and to improve and bring Nigeria up as the biggest economy in Africa, with a GDP of about half a trillion dollars.

Posers I had to contend with

“Should I then, for the love of power, watch Nigeria slide into a theatre of war, with my fellow country men and women dying, and many more pouring into other nations in Africa and beyond, as refugees?

Should I hang on to power and tussle with my challengers, while the investments of hard working citizens of the world go down the drain? I then said to myself, NO!

Resisting the lure of power

“I promised my God that I will not let that fate befall Nigeria under my watch, hence the historic telephone call I put through to congratulate my challenger even when the results were still being

tallied. I believe that for a country to be great, both the leaders and the led must be prepared to make sacrifices. This is why, everywhere I go, I always advise that the new generation of African leaders must think differently. We can no longer afford to wilfully sacrifice the blood of our citizens on the altar of dangerous partisan politics. It is not worth it. This reminds me of one of my campaign statements to the effect that my ambition was not worth the shedding of the blood of any Nigerian. Some people took it then as mere political slogan but I knew that I meant it when I said it.

We must all fight for the enthronement of political stability in Africa, for in it lies the panacea for sustainable growth and development. For Africa to record the kind of advancement that will be

competitive and beneficial to our citizens, we must have stable states supported by strong institutions. That appears to be the irreducible minimum that is common to all developed societies. Africa’s political odyssey can distinctly be categorised into three eras, and probably another that would later signpost its classification as a developed continent”.

Challenges

“Some may doubt this, but it is no fluke that Africa is growing and rising. However I will admit before you here that we still have challenges. That is why people like us did all we could to ensure that

Nigeria, the biggest black nation on earth, would not drift into anarchy because such a situation would have spelt doom for the rest of the continent. It would have affected not just Nigeria alone, but the

GDP and economy of the entire West Africa. And if the economy of West Africa crashes, it would definitely affect the performance of the economy of the whole of Africa. As you know, the GDP of Africa is less than three trillion dollars, with only six African countries able to boast of nominal GDP above $100 billion. Even for those in this ‘elite’ category, you can’t really say that they are rich countries. Apart from maybe South Africa that has an industrially competitive economy, the rest are still mainly commodity exporting countries. Even the case of that of South Africa is not very encouraging, because we have a situation which we could refer to as a first world economic performance, yet the ordinary people live the life of the people in the so called third world.

In the case of Nigeria which is even the biggest economy on the continent, the reality is that we have an unenviable per capita GDP of $3,203, which is the World Bank average for a period covering 2011-2015.

Africa’s future is bright

“Even then, I still believe that Africa has a bright future; a promising prognosis that is supported by the fact that the continent remains a very fertile and attractive territory that yields irresistible returns on investments. I believe that in the next few years many more big investors will be jostling to come to Africa, if only we will do the right thing. The process of getting it right has already started with a democratic and increasingly democratising Africa. But we have to deepen and strengthen our democratic credentials through regular, free and fair elections. This will in turn bring about the stability necessary to improve the infrastructure that promotes rapid economic growth. These are the guarantees that would lead us into the next period which I would like to call the era of a developed Africa. I have no doubt in my mind that we will get there some day.

My future plans

“I will be applying myself diligently to two key areas. First, is to work for good governance by promoting credible and transparent elections. This will bring about the strengthening of our institutions

and the enthronement of stability. I also believe that there is the urgent need to create jobs for our

teeming young population. This is another area that will be receiving my attention. I recall that the Vice President of your association made reference in his speech to my achievements in that regard through

what we called Youth Enterprises with Innovation (YouWin) and the Nagropreneur programme which encouraged young people to go into agriculture. I believe more programmes like that should be established to promote youth entrepreneurship. That way, we reduce their reliance on paid employment. We will not only teach them to become entrepreneurs, they will also acquire the capacity to employ other people. We will be paying special attention to this segment of our society, especially young people and women. We will develop programmes that will inculcate in them business skills to be able to set up micro, small and medium enterprises. We shall assist them to access take-off grants when they acquire the relevant skills and capacities. There are many areas that they can go into; food processing, light manufacturing and the services sector are just some of them. I can tell you from experience that this works. As we speak, Our Nagropreneur programme, to promote youth involvement in agriculture

value chain, is being scaled up by the African Development Bank presently. It is already being replicated in 19 African countries because of the success of the programme in Nigeria. I invite all of you here today, cabinet ministers, diplomats and private sector people to remain committed to the cause of improving lives, especially those lives in Africa, and making our world a better place. For those of you that will be sharing in this vision for Africa, I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I am very optimistic that if we encourage young men and women in this continent to develop businesses of their own, the story of Africa will change within 10 years”.

source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/real-reasons-i-conceded-to-buhari-jonathan/

“Should I then, for the love of power, watch Nigeria slide into a theatre of war, with my fellow country men and women dying, and many more pouring into other nations in Africa and beyond, as refugees?

Should I hang on to power and tussle with my challengers, while the investments of hard working citizens of the world go down the drain? I then said to myself, NO! "

Resisting the lure of power...


May those killed in 2011 post Presidential Election violence continue to rest in peace.

GEJ is a good man but too weak to lead a country like Nigeria. Anyway,thank you for relinquished power to our dear president BUHARI. History will always remember you for this.

*IPOB Youths you can all see GEJ has moved on with his life. If una like,make una still they hate Buhari and other tribes thinking they are your problems,na una sabi.

Nigeria sai Buhari

God bless Nigeria.

He lost d election. And he did d right tin

tuale4u:
He lost d election. And he did d right tin

Yeah! You can say that again.

Basically, GEJ is saying that even if he had reservations about the elections, he knew that if he had contested the results, the North and some of their SW allies would have visited mayhem on the country. He was literaly 'bullied' out of his constitutional right to contest the outcome of the election. GEJ saved a lot of lives by conceding defeat. Unfortunately, if he had to do this to save lives, APC is not likely to be a Government that will effect any meaningful change

ELVISHOT:


“Should I then, for the love of power, watch Nigeria slide into a theatre of war, with my fellow country men and women dying, and many more pouring into other nations in Africa and beyond, as refugees?

Should I hang on to power and tussle with my challengers, while the investments of hard working citizens of the world go down the drain? I then said to myself, NO!


source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/real-reasons-i-conceded-to-buhari-jonathan/

cc: Lalasticlala

Thank god for gej,if it was the dullard ,he would have allowed ppl to be slaughtered ,even when he contested and lost he incited ppl to kill their fellow country men.

How can the. North continue to lead us.does this country rey belong to dem,,(_hausas)?

[b][/b]The tension in the land was abysmally high and palpable, in the months and days leading to the election. The country became more polarized more than ever before, such that the gap between the North and the South and between Christians and Muslims became quite pronounced.


The above situation was created by you and your kinsman by your hate campaign.
Nnamadi Sambo your vice was caught on camera saying Muslims should not vote for Christians.
Asari Dokubo was all.over media threaten the peace of the country if Jonathan didn't win.

person wey fail exam no need go court to contest the teacher's decision to give him F9 naaa. GEJ saved lives but also failed as a leader. I hope Buhari will not tow similar line because we trusted GEJ when he had no shoes and we now trust Buhari now that he belongs to everyone and belong to no one.

The reason you conceded victory to PMB Was because you were defeated.

I bet you that if the likes of Dasuki, Bafarrawa, David Mark, Metuh, Fayose and Co rightly knew that this ill fate will befall them after your concession, your story could have been different.
But thank goodness that through the historic phone call, destiny set you up unknowingly for the greater good of Nigerians.
Sir i learned through your fortunate and ineffectual political expedition that though anyone could be president not everyone should be.

Your rent due for house....landlord say make you commot house you say you concede defeat.

Hmmm that's cool.

he should have stayed on and watch what happened to gbagbo of ivory coast by the International community happen to him. he never see something.

I believe everybody has a reason for doing a thing.

sameer1212:
Yeah! You can said that again.

pls saided it again.

Admitting defeat was the best option


Especially when he was at the forefront meddling during Gbabo incident and witnessing his fall

All I can say is ...
1)THANK GOD FOR TALKING TO you.
2) Thank you for Listening to HIM!
You made a huge sacrifice. You will forever be remembered for that. Our Future generations will read about you in their History Text books.

Anytime i look at this man's face,,all i see is cluelessness..

OVI75:
How can the. North continue to lead us.does this country rey belong to dem,,(_hausas)?

This is extremely STUPID, completely ignorant and low IQ.
Obasanjo practically handed over to Jonathan. Yaradua barely did 2 years. So the North has been out of power for more than 16 years. It is very important to think at a high level and stop being childish.

kaypound:
Your rent due for house....landlord say make you commot house you say you concede defeat.

Abeg help me ask am o!
He lost election and he wants us to hail him for conceding?
Nigerian mind?
None like it in the whole world!
This man is really a drama queen,
I"m sure all the western ambassadors and UN representatives visiting Aso Rock when it was clear that he had lost,
Went there to remind him of one thing,
"If you behave anyhow you will see anyhow!"
Reminding him of Laurent Gbagbo treatment!
Being a coward, he immediately capitulated.

So he said all this; without a written script? Omo this man brain dey hot ooo...

Brilliance at work here.

God bless you GEJ for averting a theatre of War in Nigeria and West Africa.

My Hero!

ayemerbarth:
The reason you conceded victory to PMB Was because you were defeated.

Well I understand that u r kid, and u won't know wat really transpired in the mind of GEJ. Am not sure u would av been here typing this thing. U seriously don't even know wen War is knocking on the door. So u think GEJ was actually defeated? With 1.9million votes in Kano with NO VOID votes and underage voters that was all over the. Cyber space; am not sure u saw our airports that day right. They were filled to d brim; am not sure u know of weapons been transported to the north; am not sure u wondered why all the northerners were leaving the southern part of Nigeria to their town. U think is too vote; my friend Wen u sit down with elders; they will school you more about the theatre of War GEJ boycotted intentionally.

Be careful wat u wish for. Cos u won't know until it happens; it's either u appreciate him or keep quiet rather than coming here to type wat u just did.
Thank you.

ns because of you I start to dey drink hero..... na because of you I begin find ijaw bane..... #myHero

As expected, majority tribes bullying a president from a minority tribe out of office. With the number of cancelled election results by the judiciary, it is obvious that the entire election was filled with irregularities. He should have gone to court for the sake of Nigerians who voted for him. Bigots do not appreciate the sacrifice you made Sir.

tuale4u:
He lost d election. And he did d right tin

Nigeria ain't a country where you lose and still hold on to power, this ain't Zimbabwe, if someone would have held on to power after his tenure, that person should have been Obasanjo cuz he was so powerful/power drunk then not GEJ who was placed there, so sure he would have lost PDP primaries if it wasn't canceled. He "sounds nice and gentle" but too soft and clueless to rule a nation like nigeria

iconSAGE1:
.

Ogbeni Nigeria is not a country where you lose and still hold to power, Am sure you dont know anything about june 12 1993 when Abiola won at the poll and Babanginda refuse to relinquish power, Try and read so that ignorance will depart from you.

Oh so Babangida lost at the polls or was GEJ a military head of state You just dive into matters u don't understand, Abegii park well make I spit

The election defeat was conceded almost 10 months ago. We can't be going bacj and forth though GEJ's acceptance of the defeat was a boost to his democratic credentials and heroic(by my judgement, I think he shouldn't push his luck too far. For the fact that we now have a new government in power, in whom the destiny of Nigeria lies. We have to move ahead...

ayemerbarth:
The reason you conceded victory to PMB Was because you were defeated.

tell gov ikpeazu to come and drink orijin with me

zendy:
Basically, GEJ is saying that even if he had reservations about the elections, he knew that if he had contested the results, the North and some of their SW allies would have visited mayhem on the country. He was literaly 'bullied' out of his constitutional right to contest the outcome of the election. GEJ saved a lot of lives by conceding defeat. Unfortunately, if he had to do this to save lives, APC is not likely to be a Government that will effect any meaningful change

dumb opinion the same south west where Jonathan got 40% of the votes? the south west was the only region that gave both candidates a fair number of votes.

sameer1212:
Yeah! You can said that again.

Yeepa ori mi o, ibon