The air is thick with expectations. The smoke is everywhere and the fire appears not far off. The buzz is deafening, and now rising to a crescendo: Jonathan is Coming! Jonathan is Coming! Expectedly the jury is already out in full force with many pundits, commentators and self styled political strategists weighing in on the implications of a potential re- emergence of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan into the political scene for a possible 2027 Presidential run.
What is commonly agreed by virtually all the opinion writers is that his re-entry into the political fray will cause a tectonic shift in the on-going power calculations by the different political platforms ranging from the ruling APC, the main opposition PDP and the re-branded ADC. Many believe that if he runs he will win resoundingly for the very fact that the North will remember and reward him for the massive pro- people and pro-poor programmes and policies that he unleashed during his first Presidential term but policies that have been diminished and abandoned over the past ten years, his inclusive and compassionate style of governance and, of course, the reality that he will be constitutionally eligible for only one term in office. While his South South base will vote for him resoundingly and massively the South East-his adoptive geopolitical base- will also throw in its weight behind him especially if Peter Obi’s name is not on the ballot.
It is not my intention in this three part piece to respond to all the opinion articles already published with regard to former President Jonathan’s presumed second coming- some that are forthright, measured and objective and others that bear the imprint of hack writers who are paid to tarnish his image and reputation. While I will have a word or two about the ongoing conversation in the media circuit about the Jonathan phenomenon it is my intention, for now, to let his words and the words of others speak for him and about him- his humane personality, his passion for peace and good governance, his liberal disposition and tolerance and the massive socio- economic transformation he brought to bear on the nation between 2010 and 2015.
Using his words and those of others to tell his story and reanimate his legacy is like going back into Nigerian history when thought leaders like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Tafawa Balewa and Dr M I Okpara walked the land which they lead with moral clarity and intellectual force. Then you can read their quotes and words of wisdom; you can flip through their writings and you can hold them account with their words. Such a leader is Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and surely not some other presidents who do not even have one single sound bite to remember them by!
Let me now quickly present to the Nigerian public and the global community at large an assemblage of these profound words and deep thoughts with my modest commentaries; the style of presentation that will be continued in parts two and three of this piece.
“My political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian”
-President Goodluck Jonathan
This mantra of peace now has a global resonance, a force of moral clarity and has become the touchstone for assessing the conduct of African political leaders when they are in office
Still on President Jonathan as a Man of Peace
“President Jonathan did the unthinkable in 2015- he called the opposition candidate an election whose final results had not yet been announced. He had the capacity to foment trouble, for whatever reason, but chose the path of peace”.
— Simon Kolawole, journalist and public intellectual
Kolawole hit the nail on the head with clarity of vision and thought. Nothing further to add to his profound viewpoint.
Jonathan as a Transformational Leader
“Dr Jonathan lifted millions of youths out of poverty through innovative initiatives like the YouWin, adjudged by the World Bank as probably the most successful business growth competition in the world. Dr Jonathan also had the enviable record of building more schools( 165 elementary/high schools and 14 Universities) for the youth of Nigeria, a feat which led to a massive increase in Nigeria’s GDP because, as every leader should know, the more you learn, the more you earn”.
— John Dramani Mahama, President of Republic of Ghana
Nothing more need be added to these powerful testimonial from the pen of one of Africa’s great contemporary leaders.
A Tolerant and Compassionate Leader
“I learnt from history and personal experience that if you use power as a sword, instead of a shield, it will begin to drain the life out of you and cause untold hardship on those you serve. Too often, many people who see power from the sidelines erroneously believe that the man who uses power as a sword is the strong man. But it is not true. Real power is strength under control”.
—President Goodluck Jonathan
Yes, tolerance, compassion and restrained power are the key ingredients of Presidential power not their opposites. Since Jonathan left office the truism of his historic declaration now stares us in the face.
Jonathan as the Face of African Democracy
“Goodluck Jonathan’s legacy of a peaceful and democratic transfer of power has made him the face of democracy in Africa. If every African leader practiced the Jonathan Doctrine, Africa would soon become one of the most stable and developed part of the world”.
—Joe Trippi, USA political strategist and bestselling author
I cannot but agree that Africa still struggles because many leaders of the continent are yet to embrace the Jonathan Doctrine. Sit tight civilian dictators still abound in the continent, stifling the opposition and abusing constitutional provisions on term limits. It’s time for them to practice the Jonathan Doctrine and let Africa breathe.
President Jonathan on the Moral Imperative of Power
“I have come to launch a campaign of ideas, not one of calumny. I have come to preach love, not hate. I have come to break you away from divisive tendencies of the past which has slowed down our drive to nationhood. I have no enemies to fight. You are all my friends and we share a common identity”.
— President Jonathan
Before Jonathan came to utter this profoundly transformative words, the last we ever heard of this kind of moral clarity was during the years of resistance to British colonialism and the making of a post colonial Nigerian nation.
How do I conclude this opening part of a piece I have thought about for quite sometime and have now summoned the courage to write. President Jonathan has been called unprintable names by his opponents and their legion of tenacious traducers. He has been described as weak, incompetent and clueless. Ten years after he left office the utterers of these harsh words have hidden their heads in shame because the real incompetent and clueless ones came calling. Eleven years after being clobbered over the kidnap of the Chibok girls the remaining girls have since been abandoned by those who weaponized their tragic circumstance to defeat him in an election. Of course the Dapchi girls have since been added to the growing list of girls and other citizens abducted between 2015 and 2025. And as for the Unity Fountain in Abuja where the Bring Back the Girls campaigners encamped for months assailing him and his government it has been shuttered down, gated and padlocked with permanent police and DSS guards.
I am from Gombe state, a Northerner and a Muslim, and an academic and a public intellectual. President Jonathan is from Bayelsa state, of Ijaw ethnic extraction and a Christian by faith. Yet I believe in him and his historic promise as a transformative leader and if he were to seek another term in office I will readily endorse him, campaign for him and vote for him.
Adamu Musa Abdulkadir wrote from Gombe in Gombe state