Why I Let Go 2016 Election - GEJ

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.”