It is no secret that I personally had never rated Goodluck Jonathan as a leader right from his days as a deputy governor in Bayelsa, and nothing to do with just his presidency. I have always maintained that he was among those a certain faith usually placed on the Nigeria accidental leadership conveyer belt that began with Tafawa Balewa.

For the first time since Jonathan stumbled upon the leadership of Nigeria he made a decisive decision without going if, can I or should I that had plagued his leadership from day one, that has often resulted in bad news that could have been avoided. It was such indecisiveness that cost him a second term as president.

That first time decisive action was his decision to thrown in the towel when it was obvious that that the evil day they conspired to postpone for six weeks is not going away and now a complete reality especially after that Orubebe show of shame, as Obama and the Americans, plus the EU were kneeling on his back and probably the words of his former godfather (OBJ) was ringing in his ears about the Gbagbo’s outcome effect.

So I commended Jonathan for saving self that agony, saving innocent kids in Niger Delta of whom leeches like Orubebe has already mapped out evil plans to sacrifice. It must have been difficult for him to call it a day, especially with the sort of pressure his power drunken Mrs could have mounted on him to fight rather than to go quietly.

Having said that, it a bit going over the top, calling Jonathan a hero, the saviour of Nigeria democracy, the highest statesman etc by some crack head politicians and their supporters who cost him the election in the first place through their actions, inactions and zombie like utterances. Jonathan did what any sensible person will do when you got no choice or any positive alternatives. Calling Jonathan a hero is like calling a starving person a hero for gulping down a cheeseburger with a bottle of ice cold cola.

I was in Orlu on the elections day and saw how the whole place was locked down with armoured personnel carriers. However, the indiscriminate arrest of those the perceived to be their opponent and intimidation was very scary. By the evening on the Election Day, the whole of Mgbee Road in Orlu town leading to Ideato towards Ogboko where Mr Okorocha hails from was like a military war zone. I witnessed this first hand, not through internet posted pictures. That is not what a hero of democracy inspires his foot soldiers to do.

Having said all that, Jonathan deserved some respect and must be commended and emulated by all leaders, especially those in Nigeria to accept defeat when it’s a real defeat and to say no when it’s a fraudulent defeat through peaceful means, like Al Gore did in 2001 or Fayemi in 2014.
In fact, most African leaders ARE already ahead in terms of accepting defeat, irrespective of the so called incumbency when they lose.

And have you seen how relax Jonathan looks this days since conceding defeat to Mr Buhari? I was telling my wife that he must have had the best sleep in 6 years that night. Suddenly he is free, from the Chibok girls to the empty treasury he will leave behind.

Jonathan is both a hero and a sensible man.

One opinion out of 170m

You are so out of touch with reality, it's so frightening.

GEJ is neither, he had no choice

He's a hero!

If GEJ was anything like Obasanjo, Tinubu or a typical Nigerian or third world politician, he would have had his way either through rigging or any other means possible. He is the president and commander in chief, which is the most powerful position in the country. He can do and undo!

Think about it, what will have been the worst if GEJ had decided to subvert the will of the people by rigging the elections or any other means (Which he had the power to do)?
Nothing unusual would have happened. There will be violence in parts of the north and that's all. Security operatives would be deployed to restore order.

The belief that he would be treated like Gbagbo is absolute nonsense!
Nigeria is not Ivory Coast. GEJ has the complete support of the south south and south east zone. We were willing to back him up in every action he took to undermine Buhari and the north in reclaiming power (This is the consensus right now in the south south and south east)

However, GEJ decided to let the natural progression and ascendancy of events take place. That is something not peculiar to politicians from third world countries (like Nigeria). He deserves accolades for his altruistic actions. Let us be honest.

[s]I personally think he's a weak man, he has no balls and he's an embarrassment. [/s]

Jonathan is a hero period.If you were a southerner staying in the north you'll relate to this statement.You cant be in enugu and say jonathan is not a hero.Believe it or not,lives were saved,people can now sleep with their eyes closed.

He is/was whimp. That is not contestable. Deputy governor? Maybe fits. But presidency? Too far out of his comfort zone. He even seem totally unaware of the hopes/aspirations/lives/jobs/destinies etc pinned to his good job delivery. . 6 years was enough for him to own that office but at the last check, another 6 years won't have made him even more presidential than the last 6. He was that clumsy. . That said, coming from that mgbeê - Ogboko axiz, I am very worried about what becomes of the confab report, how will the next presidency handle issues associated with decentralisation and devaluation of powers, the census count, regionalism and creations of states and local governments. These are issues that were bound to be handled in a Jonathans second term. And even as an eternal blunderer, one expected a reasonable progress from Jonathan rather than from those whose idea of One Nigeria is still firmly rooted in a feudalistic set up that only expands the fulani hegemony.

Give respect to whom respect is due

May God bless Pa Eziachi and continue to grant him abundance health and longevity.

Oga Eziashi my response to such a post as yours has been waiting since the onset of GEJ era of ignomy. But that's not as important as knowing that you are still alive and healthy and ever ready to join in 'change'.
Welcome back to NL.

These morons who keep going on about the Gbagbo effect think it would have been easy to just pick Jonathan,throw him in a jail somewhere in the Hague and expect the country to remain as it were. Unless of course we have decided we no longer need the main artery of Nigeria's economy only then can such a warped & foolhardy stunt be conjured. Nigerians aren't that foolish just yet. GEJ conceded on his own volition despite the sycophants and hangers on around him that would have been prodding him to act otherwise. So mr Eziachi,don't let your dislike for the president cloud your sense of reasoning. Just saying

I was just thinking...

If GEJ could muster the courage to call the bluff of the monsters around his presidency just this one time as widely speculated...how come he was helpless until it was too late?

Take it or leave it, GEJ is responsible for all the decisions his administration took when he held the power as C in C.

Yes, he has achieved a stateman's status for matching his words with action even if it was just for once but I will very much contest his heroism...

@@@

No No NO Jon is a big fool; he wasted years thinking the hausa-fulani boko harem will ever accept and love him but today he knows better

He should have declared Biafra

that simple!

However u have a man saying he will make #1=$1

your money will be saved under him? do u mind explaining that haha

etc etc

does that not make him the biggest mugu and mumu in the market? Let the yorubas tell us

Just this single voice is not loud enough to over power the other voices singing the heroism of president GEJ.

You may not see the heroism of his act but those who live in the danger of the consequences of the uprising of not accepting defeat see him as hero.

He has also set a standard in the nigerian politics.

#GEJmyHero

bodejohn:
I was just thinking...

If GEJ could muster the courage to call the bluff of the monsters around his presidency just this one time as widely speculated...how come he was helpless until it was too late?

Take it or leave it, GEJ is responsible for all the decisions his administration took when he held the power as C in C.

Yes, he has achieved a stateman's status for matching his words with action even if it was just for once but I will very much contest his heroism...

You are just dancing in circles

Pa Eziachi, so good to hear from you. Hope you are well Sir. Another excellent and balanced write-up. Hope you will stick around to at least help look at the new cabinet post May 29th. Wishing you a happy Easter.

Eziachi

God bless you sir.

Djicemob:
You are just dancing in circles

How do you mean?

We cannot take it away from him that he diffused the tension that was building but that didn't hand him the heroism that some folks are shouting...

Sweetguy25:
He's a hero!

If GEJ was anything like Obasanjo, Tinubu or a typical Nigerian or third world politician, he would have had his way either through rigging or any other means possible. He is the president and commander in chief, which is the most powerful position in the country. He can do and undo!

Think about it, what will have been the worst if GEJ had decided to subvert the will of the people by rigging the elections or any other means (Which he had the power to do)?
Nothing unusual would have happened. There will be violence in parts of the north and that's all. Security operatives would be deployed to restore order.

The belief that he would be treated like Gbagbo is absolute nonsense!
Nigeria is not Ivory Coast. GEJ has the complete support of the south south and south east zone. We were willing to back him up in every action he took to undermine Buhari and the north in reclaiming power (This is the consensus right now in the south south and south east)

However, GEJ decided to let the natural progression and ascendancy of events take place. That is something not peculiar to politicians from third world countries (like Nigeria). He deserves accolades for his altruistic actions. Let us be honest.

[s]I personally think he's a weak man, he has no balls and he's an embarrassment. [/s]

You are the one that is out of touch with reality. Tell me how do you rig election in a region where you are not popular? How can Jonathan rig election in the NW or NE and expect to emerge as winner in those regions. The only place the election could have been rigged in his favour is in SS and SE - and they did. Don't tell me the 73% turnout rate in Rivers and over 60 in both Delta and Akwa Ibom are natural when the national average was just about 50% (even the so-called Kano, Katsina and Kaduna votes were just about 50% turnout rate). And the fact that he tried to remove Jega few weeks to election showed how desperate he was to upturn the will of the people. GEJ lost because of his divisive style of government which made him rely so much on the votes from SS/SE even though that is the region with the least number of registered voters. Another factor that contributed to his loss was the people he surrounded himself with and the die-hard fanbase he has in SE who never told him the truth about his many errors but were quick to blame it on APC/Northern elites/muslims. How can an incumbent president allow his as$lickers to demonise Islam - the main religion of the region with about 50% of the registered voters in the country and you expect to win their votes. Not even minding the fact that he didn't take their plight seriously on the Boko Haram issue (again instead of rolling his sleeves and tackle the menace, he was busy blaming the same northerners and APC for sponsoring BH)

Finally, those calling GEJ a hero are just as$lickers. They are his main enemy that refused to tell him the truth from day one. So because Nigeria did not qualify for 2015 nations cup. But Nigeria return the trophy she won in the last edition. Going by the GEJ "heroic" action for conceding defeat in an election he lost, Nigeria should be given CAF award for returning the trophy she didn't qualify to defend.

DickDastardly:
One opinion out of 170m

Thank you jare. them de vex say GEJ popularity don go global