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| Former President Goodluck Jonathan |
Former president, Goodluck Jonathan
yesterday touched on some of the legacies of his administration while
speaking to Friends of Africa Coalition on “Strengthening Democracy and
Elections” at the mayor’s office in Newark, New Jersey, United States.
Speaking to the elite group, Jonathan
said the 2015 general elections in Nigeria had potential for major
crisis and that the campaigns leading to the elections almost polarised
the country into Christian v Muslims and North v South divide.
The former president said that most world leaders were worried that the elections would result into major crisis.
“Some pundits even from here in the
United States said that those elections would spell the end of Nigeria
and that we would cease to exist as a nation because of the polls. That
is where the leadership question comes into play.
“As a leader that was duly elected by
the people, I considered the people’s interest first. How do I manage my
people to avoid killings and destruction of properties? With the
interest of the people propelling all the decisions I took, we were able
to sail through. Indeed, we sailed through because I refused to
interfere with the independence of the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, having appointed a man I had never met in my life to
run it.
“My philosophy was simple. For elections
to be credible, I as a leader, must value the process more than the
product of the process. And the citizens must have confidence in the
electoral body,” he said.
Jonathan said his strict adherence to
the rule of the law ensured that Nigeria’s peace, prosperity and
progress were not derailed by the conduct and results of the 2015
elections.
Speaking on the other legacies of his
administration, he said: “I am proud to say that while I took over a
Nigeria that was the second largest economy in Africa with a GDP of
$270.5 billion in 2009, I handed over a Nigeria that had grown to become
the largest economy in Africa and the 24th largest economy in the World
with a GDP of $574 billion.
“I inherited a Nigeria in which the
trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can
safely travel by trains again. I inherited a Nigeria that was a net
importer of cement, and handed over a Nigeria that is a net exporter of
cement. In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa,
but I handed over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa.
“These are but a few of the parameters
that illustrate some of the economic transformations we engineered
during my term in office.”
The former president said this success
was made possible by the fact that there was a stable political
leadership in Nigeria that did not have to pander to any other
constituency except the electorate who brought him to power.
Jonathan also argued that if the process
that brought leaders to power “did not flow through the people, they
naturally administered their governments to first and foremost serve the
constituencies that brought them to power.”
Jonathan also met with the CEO of
Moskeeto Armor, Robin R. Crespo and his team as part of events leading
up to the World Malaria Day on April 25th, 2016.
Moskeeto Armor manufactures clothing to protect against malaria, the zika virus, Denue and other vector-borne diseases.
It was successfully clinically field-tested in Nigeria in 2014.
When worn by children as a standalone
product, Moskeeto Armor was 90% effective at reducing the malaria
infection rate, and when combined with a bed net, the Moskeeto Armor
combination was 97% effective at stopping the spread of malaria.
The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation is
partnering with Moskeeto Armor to protect African children against
malaria and other vector-borne diseases.
“The simple principle of ‘Love your
neighbour as you love yourself’ lays a foundation of commitment to
protecting nations,” said Jonathan during the meeting with Moskeeto
Armor.
Continuing, he said “these crises caused
by such small insects, transmitting these deadly diseases, have
devastated so many lives across Africa and the world, but with one just
as small idea, there is hope for a better tomorrow.”
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