Former President, Goodluck Jonathan has replied his critics who accused
\nhim of handing over a nation at the verge of collapse to his successor,
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n
Jonathan recounted the achievements of his government to include, handing
\nover a country that produced the richest man in Africa.<\/p>\n
Jonathan said, ?I took over a Nigeria that was the second largest economy
\nin Africa with a GDP of $270.5 billion in 2009, I handed over a Nigeria
\nthat had grown to become the largest economy in Africa and the 24th
\nlargest economy in the World with a GDP of $574 billion.<\/p>\n
I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed
\nover a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again. I also
\ninherited a country where illiteracy rate particularly in the Northern
\npart was alarming. I handed over a country where every state in the North
\nand indeed all the states had a Federal University. I inherited a country
\nwhere there was total infrastructural decay in all the unity schools and
\ncolleges of education. But I handed over a country with massive
\ninfrastructural improvement in almost higher institutions. I inherited a
\ncountry where agricultural inputs and production were almost zero. But I
\nhanded over a country where a bag of rice was sold for N6,500 to N7000. My
\nregime since the establishment of ecological fund office did more
\nirrigation dams in the North and other parts of the country than other
\nsubsequent administrations put together. I inherited epileptic fuel
\nsupplies resulting to endless queues at the filling stations. I maintained
\ndespite enormous challenges of fuel subsidies and handed over a relatively
\nstable fuel regime.<\/p>\n
I inherited a Nigeria that was a net importer of cement, and handed over a
\nNigeria that is a net exporter of cement.<\/p>\n
In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa, but I
\nhanded over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa.<\/p>\n
The former President further stated ” I inherited a country where people
\nwere almost losing hope on the credibility of its electoral process but I
\nnoticed that\u00a0 democracy will continue to grow in the African continent if
\nleaders value the process of elections more than the product of the
\nprocess. I handed over electoral process that engendered fairness in its
\nconduct and conclusiveness “.<\/p>\n
He said, ?Even in the 2015 general elections in my country, Nigeria, there
\nwas potential for major crisis if I was not a President duly elected by
\nthe will of the people.<\/p>\n
The campaigns leading to the elections almost polarized the country into
\nChristian vs Muslims and North vs South divide.<\/p>\n
Most World leaders were worried that our elections will result into major
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
Some pundits even from here in the United States said that those elections
\nwould spell the end of Nigeria and that we would cease to exist as a
\nnation because of the polls.<\/p>\n
That is where the leadership question comes into play.
\nAs a leader that was duly elected by the people, I considered the peoples
\ninterest first.<\/p>\n
How do I manage my people to avoid killings and destruction of properties?
\nWith the interest of the people propelling all the decisions I took, we
\nwere able to sail through.<\/p>\n
Indeed, we sailed through because I refused to interfere with the
\nindependence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,
\nhaving appointed a man I had never met in my life to run it. We sailed
\nthrough because I maintained and still believe that my personal ambition,
\ninterest is not worth the blood of any single Nigerian.<\/p>\n
My philosophy was simple. For elections to be credible, I as a leader,
\nmust value the process more than the product of the process. And the
\ncitizens must have confidence in the electoral body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan has replied his critics who accused him of handing over a nation at the verge of collapse to his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan recounted the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n