Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is
Nigeria’s 14th head of state and
current president, but that’s all
common knowledge. It’s also common
knowledge that he originally came into
office after the former president fell ill.
Here are some lesser-known things
worth learning about.

Jonathan was born to a family of
canoe makers.

Jonathan was born in what is now
Bayelsa State to a family of canoe
makers. In the oil-rich Niger Delta
region, this was a somewhat unusual
occupation, and Goodluck made the
even more rare decision not to follow
in his parents’ footsteps.

His middle name means “God’s wish”

Jonathan’s middle name, Ebele,
means “God’s wish,” suggesting his
parents had pretty high expectations
for him from the get-go. I mean, if
your name is Goodluck God’s wish,
you’ve got some high hopes to live up
to, right?

He has a Ph.D in Zoology

Which might be a bit of an oddity for
a sitting head of state. But Jonathan
began with a bachelor’s degree in
zoology, and followed up with an
master’s in hydrobiology and fisheries
biology and a Ph.D in zoology from
the University of Port Harcourt. Who
knows, maybe the Nigerian
presidential office has a ton a pets!

He worked as an environmental
protection officer before taking office

Among other things. Before entering
into the political arena in 1998,
Jonathan worked as an education
inspector, a lecturer, and more
memorably as an environmental
protection officer. It was in this latter
capacity that he stepped into the
public light, serving as a watch dog on
many corporations in the country.

Jonathan seems to have a penchant
for being in the right place at the right
time

It’s common knowledge that he
assumed the presidency following
then-President Olusegun Obansajo’s
illness, but that wasn’t the first time
he had to lead. In 1999, he was deputy
governor for his home state of Bayelsa
when the governor was impeached on
corruption charges. Jonathan moved
into the open position, beginning his
more illustrious political career
His fedora is one of his more
memorable signature features
The fedora has character, but a former
U.S. ambassador made the
unfortunate comment that Jonathan
lacked charisma and possessed an
“underwhelming personality,” a slip of
the tongue uncovered in the WikiLeaks
scandal

As vice president, he kept a low profile
but was instrumental in several key
moments

One of Jonathan’s niche roles was as
a negotiator with his fellow Ijaws. He
managed to help forge an agreement
with militant groups in the Niger Delta
to stop a rash of violence and
encouraged them to lay down their
weapons in exchange for amnesty, a
move celebrated both by his
administration and by citizens country
wide.

Jonathan tried to ban the Nigerian
national soccer team after a poor
showing at the 2010 World Cup

After the Nigerian soccer team didn’t
progress past the group stage at the
2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa,
Jonathan tried to implement a two-
year ban on the team’s participation
in international competition. He later
backtracked due to pressure from FIFA,
but it was pretty clear he wasn’t
pleased with the performance..

Jonathan became the first sitting
Nigerian president to have his own
Facebook page..

Jonathan launched his Facebook page
in June 2010 to help better interact
with the Nigerian people. He used it
as a platform to announce his run for
office in 2011, which would represent
his first actual run for political
election
.
His wife has been investigated on
money laundering allegations

Though she was never found guilty or
convicted of any wrongdoing,
Jonathan’s wife, Patience, was
investigated by an anti-corruption
committee in 2006. It was alleged she
had tried to launder more than $13
million, but the evidence wasn’t strong
enough for a conviction.
SOURCE: http://afkinsider.com

Really? 10 things i dont knw about Jonathan? Mr Man i knew all these things. Ebele means God's wish? Really? Are u an igbo man? My Friend Ebele or Ebere, depending on the way it is pronounced by a particular group of Igbo dialectically means "Mercy"

Over 3years now am just comettin..I just dy laugh

Nonybb: Really? 10 things i dont knw about Jonathan? Mr Man i knew all these things. Ebele means God's wish? Really? Are u an igbo man? My Friend Ebele or Ebere, depending on the way it is pronounced by a particular group of Igbo dialectically means "Mercy"

It cn mean a diffrent thing in Ijaw language

Okay

@ OP
Ebele means mercy nt God`s wish

basilo101:
It cn mean a diffrent thing in Ijaw language

All r d same both ijaw n igbo

OP is confuse dats all

We know these things abeg.

Let me add some:

11. He is the most cursed and abused president Nigeria has ever produced

12. He is the most clueless President Nigeria has ever proced

13. Etc etc

Next.....

fast guy 10: @ OP
Ebele means mercy nt God`s wish

Ebele means God's wish in Ijaw (Ogbia)