Nigeria: "Transition Times" – President Jonathan Responds

"He had no bitterness after he left office, he did not go back, he did not look down, he looked up, and after looking up, he looked up. looked forward and continued to move forward.This movement forward has resulted in this work, the privilege of which is to write the preface.Although the book My Transition Times has many themes, the one that fascinates me the more is the one about young people and the next generation "- John Dramani Mahama, President, Republic of Ghana, 2012 -2017.

These are some of the words with which former Ghanaian President John Mahama presents the long-awaited and long-awaited book of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. President Mahama is the close friend of President Jonathan. In a way, they share the same destiny. Their leaders died and they both became president. They also both won the election to the presidency and then lost their re-election offers. But they are perhaps more united by the common affinities between Nigeria and Ghana. President Mahama is perfectly qualified to write the unbiased and thoughtful preface to the first book of President Jonathan, who has left office.

Jonathan is the first Nigerian President of the South-South, the first PhD graduate in Nigeria to become President, the first Nigerian President to move from the ranks of Alternate Governor to Acting Governor, Governor, first candidate for governor to the position of Vice President. President, Acting President, then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No other Nigerian, dead or alive, has gone through such a path or rite of passage. President Jonathan was Acting President in 2010-2011, following the death of his principal, Umaru Musa Yar & Adua, in circumstances that plunged the country into a dilemma and raised questions about the geopolitics of the country. Nigeria and issues of ethnicity and geography, or even more importantly. the right of minorities to "govern" Nigeria equally, and if and when they are allowed to do so, whether or not they will be treated fairly.

I had the privilege of reading President Jonathan's first memoir, which will be publicly presented today in Abuja, the capital of the country, and I can say that it's a book on how Nigeria and its vested interests have mistreated it. He is the villain in the book: poorly treated by rooted interest groups, perfidious party members, hateful propaganda and opposition, and poorly constructed political ecosystem. The book is entitled "My Transition Times".

In 2011, after much ethnic turmoil and conscientious objection on the part of progressive forces, Jonathan won the presidential elections in Nigeria and remained president of Nigeria until 2015. In 2015, he lost the presidential elections in Nigeria and remained President of Nigeria until 2015. Presidential election of 2015, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission of the country (INEC). General Muhammadu Buhari, the opposition party candidate, the Progressive Congress, Jonathan has suffered greatly under the supervision of his successor. He was decried, persecuted, harassed, intimidated, humiliated and insulted. His wife was abused, maligned, criminally labeled and many of his associates were labeled crooks and thieves. In 2015, in view of the general elections. Jonathan announced that his "ambition was not worth the blood of a Nigerian". He signed a document to respect the results of the process. He kept his word. His successors rewarded him with odium and abuse. They did their best to discredit and destroy it.

In this book, "My Transition Times," President Jonathan resists. His public figure is that he is a sweet and gentle man, who does not have the courage to fight. Indeed, after the 2015 elections, everyone has abandoned it. Villa Aso Rock has become a ghost town. Nobody took our calls again. Giants in the corporate sector who had previously begged for President Jonathan would now be on the side of the Buhari. Only the Attorney General of the Federation, the chiefs of security and a few others came. The president had only his main body, that is to say his nearest circle of help.

We were hurt by the fact that many of the people benefiting from President Jonathan had left the ship and were now aspiring on the other side. We saw people who called President Jonathan their brother and friend on the Buhari side less than 24 hours after the election decision. They laughed and smiled! It was a painful moment for us. These were the real "transition times" and it was at this moment that President Jonathan began to threaten to write a book about his "transitional hours". He chose the title of the book at that time. He wanted to tell his own story. I am intrigued by the fact that he refused to change titles, but I remember how difficult these transition times were for us. When we returned to Otuoke, we were treated badly by newcomers. We had to fight to be recognized. We were treated like regular passengers! The people who took over from President Jonathan were determined to humiliate him. It got worse a lot later.

In this book, President Jonathan tries to retaliate and raise the bar. I'm glad he does it. Once I went to see him and asked him to form a team to protect his legacy. His response was that "God will fight for us, after God is government, these people will crush us because they do not know God, but let us rely on God." Some people, who thought we needed to help our boss, ignored this advice to build a team. They ended up in underground cells and were labeled as thieves! Others fled into exile. It is good to see President Jonathan himself, more than three years later, speaking. The man who appears in these pages is the real Jonathan. and that is perhaps the essential: a confident, strong, lucid and confident Jonathan, who does not take nonsense and who is very clear in his mind as to the leadership options. If he had won a second term, Nigerians would have seen a different Jonathan. He worked tirelessly to keep the country together and prevent mischief from flooding the country. He presents his arguments in this book by addressing some of the serious problems that have arisen during his tenure.

It is not common practice for a president to justify himself and justify his mandate. It is also not common for the president to be discredited by his successor. President Jonathan has every reason to write this book. He chose the right moment to make a public announcement: the most vulnerable moment of his successor. What he does above all is to tell Nigerians that most of the comments made about him are misinformation. He insists that he did not abuse power as president of Nigeria. He argues that all that is said negatively about him is an attempt to give him a bad name in order to hang him. He argues that "the real strength is the power under control". He adds, "This book is not my biography, because it will come later.This book reveals how I used power as a shield in the service of our nation and God." Jonathan's argument is that one should never abuse power.

The book is defensive and responsive on the thorny issues of fuel subsidy, Boko Haram, "stealing is not corruption", governance, etc. President Jonathan takes up the main criticisms of his administration. He does not quite provide facts, but he responds. The key questions that book addresses are worth noting. It's a book that every Nigerian should pay attention to. In this book, a former president of Nigeria says that he was mistreated and that he became a bad guy because he came from a minority part of the country. He states that "people work against our interests". In this book, a former president of the country tells us that the idea of ​​a "Nigeria" does not exist because we are a divided country. My boss insists: "There is no patriotism in Nigerian politics".

He refuses to punch. Nobody is spared. In Chapter 3, titled "Politics and Patriotism: the fuel subsidy dilemma", he states that "politics in Nigeria and some other African countries is conducted as a primitive war". His main reference is the battle for fuel subsidies in 2012. He argues that the protests against the fuel subsidy proposals were "politically motivated". Donald Duke should read this chapter. There are some references to him here. Chapter four is entitled "The case of girls from Chibok School". The governor of Borno State must read this chapter. He is accused of having seized "an opportunity to politicize an unfortunate incident". The APC would also have engaged in "psychological programming", giving President Jonathan the appearance of a "bad guy". President Jonathan rejects the labels. He accused Barack Obama's US government of acting against his government and provided evidence to support his claims. He accuses President Obama in the following manner: "For some strange reason, the Obama administration has tactically penciled Nigeria and my administration for failure".

Hadiza Bala Usman, currently head of the Nigerian Ports Authority, is also expected to read chapter four of this book. President Jonathan is convinced that the Chibok girls' affair is an act of great conspiracy because while he took all necessary measures, the governor of Borno State had a different agenda. In chapter five, he addresses the issue of theft and corruption. It provides an explanation on this particular issue. The irony is that many of the initiatives currently adopted by the Buhari Administration – Treasury single account, IPPIS and BVN were all initiatives of Jonathan. Jonathan reveals that his government has achieved better results with Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. Chapter six is ​​devoted to "The struggle for power in Nigeria". Here, Jonathan Pr5esidnet talks about his "grabbing of power" and the attack of majorities against minorities. In Chapter 7, he gives an account of his "campaign for the presidential election".

He goes further to describe what happened in the 2015 presidential election and how he personally made the decision to save Nigeria from a descent into imminent chaos. Too many people have tried to write the story of this important moment in the history of Nigeria. I am glad that President Jonathan has now given his own story to correct the many lies that could have been told. It records the responses of the international community. It's a rich and detailed account. In this book, President Jonathan puts on the table his skills as an international statesman and the goodwill he enjoyed among his peers before and after the 2015 elections.

To be fair to him, highlighting Nigeria in the international community has been one of his major achievements. But the President of the United States, Barack Obama, has not helped him and he refers to it more than once in this book. In chapter ten, President Jonathan talks about what he and his team did with the 2014 National Political Conference and his personal commitment to peace and stability in Nigeria. No need to remind us that the Buhari administration, at the time of its inauguration, sent the report of this conference. In chapters 11 to 13, President Jonathan discusses other interesting topics, such as the rise of youth, private sector reform, and the African renaissance.

It must be a book that is important to him. He uses it to settle accounts and explain the main problems of his time as president. I consider this a must read for all Nigerians and students of the Nigerian process. President Jonathan offers a personal portrait of his own politics, career and accomplishments. I may have read the book through the prism of a man who was his staff and who was involved, but I can say that it's a story honest and forthright on what happened. President Jonathan has given Nigeria its best. He was aware of his humble beginnings and wanted to make a statement. He was the son of a poor man who reached the highest level in Nigeria. He was an embodiment of the Nigerian dream.

But Nigerian politics is vicious and dirty. You will find an idea of ​​this in this book. He presents himself as a "victim", but he probably does not tell the whole story, which does not matter. It means that he can tell more stories. There are people who will read this book and will make tantrums, but these people, like Nasir el-Rufai and the governor of Borno State, as well as all the deceitful collaborators who tricked the president into the 2015 elections, for reasons of religion and ethnicity, recalled that all this is said a very nice book. President Jonathan playing the state man refused to tell everything. He held back much more than he gave up. Some of us who were part of his "main body" may have now been involuntarily empowered to tell more stories.

I know my boss is excited about this book. He wants him to be remembered for the right reasons and not for the false news that his opponents have reported about his presidency. President Goodluck Jonathan was president at a unique moment in the history of Nigeria. His emergence and experience mark a special moment in the history of Nigeria. I urge you to read this book, the first, about what he has met as President of Nigeria before, during, and after. Despite the difficulties of his experience at the post office, Goodluck Jonathan, his legacy and value, will survive beyond his "transition hours". Beyond all, he will find a good place in the history of Nigeria.