One of Nigeria's most influential
online newspapers, The Trent has
named former President Goodluck
Jonathan Person of the Year 2015.
"We are delighted to launch our
Person of the Year Award with
such a deserving statesman,"
the newspaper's, President and
Executive Editor, Ms. Aziza Uko
told journalists in
Lagos, Monday. "This marks
our second anniversary and
our Editorial Board decided to
launch this award to celebrate
the best among us, to present to
the country, especially, the
young generation, real symbols
of hope."
According to Ms. Uko, “More than
any Nigerian alive, we believe that
Jonathan represents the spirit of a
united Nigeria governed under
democratic ideals and principles. By
honoring him, we are simply re-
kindling faith in the possibility of a
new Nigeria.”
Earlier, in an editorial to celebrate
the former president as Person of the
Year 2015, The Trent noted that by
leaving the stage when the ovation
was loudest, “Jonathan opened a
golden page in the chapters of
democracy’s history, showing clearly
to the world that Africa was not a
continent of incompetent leaders and
despotic rulers who sit tight in office
at the expense of their nations’
future.”
Meanwhile, former President
Goodluck Jonathan has described the
Person of the Year Award 2015
conferred on him by The Trent
online newspaper as a “pleasant
surprise.”
Reacting to The Trent Person of the
Year 2015 Award on Monday,
December 21, 2015 the former
President said he felt deeply touched
by the kind gesture and honour
coming months after he has left
office.
“This is a pleasant surprise. I feel
extremely humbled. I couldn’t have
imagined that a group of young
people would consider me worthy of
this great honour months after I left
office as President.
"Usually, people like us receive
awards when we are in office
because of the position and power
that we have. It is moments like this
that you actually realize the people
who are truly your friends.
"I see this award as an
encouragement not just for me but
the upcoming generations of
Nigerians. I see it also as a
celebration of how far Nigeria has
come as a democracy. I commend
the Editorial Board of The Trent and
wish them the very best in their
journalistic endeavors,” he said.
Since his exit from office in May
2015, former President Jonathan’s
profile has risen globally. He has
been extolled by local and foreign
media, as well as foreign
governments for saving Nigeria from
what observers say could have been
a bloody social-political crisis in the
world’s largest black democracy.
Below is the full Editorial
Announcing the Award By The Trent
The Trent Unveils Goodluck
Jonathan As Person Of The Year
2015
On May 29, Dr. Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan left office as President of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He
did so after the embarrassment of
being the first elected incumbent
president who ran for, but lost, re-
election—losing to a candidate of the
runner-up opposition party.
President Jonathan conceded defeat
and called to congratulate his
opponent even before the end of the
electoral process.
Since he left office, former President
Jonathan’s profile has risen sharply
in the global community. He has
been lauded by local and foreign
media, as well as the foreign
government for that historic phone
call that conceded defeat and averted
a much expected bloodshed that
would have ensued had he won the
election. To many, Jonathan has
become an icon of peace, hero of
democracy, and a beacon of hope for
a better future, not only for Nigeria,
but also for Africa as a whole.
A dispassionate appraisal of his
administration shows that in many
respects, Goodluck Jonathan was not
only a sterling democrat, but also an
exceptional president that Nigeria
has ever had based on his
achievements. These qualities are
the reason why our Editorial Board
has named former President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan The
Trent’s PERSON OF THE YEAR
2015 .
On the domestic front, former
President Jonathan had done a great
service to Nigeria’s economy to the
extent that six months after he left
office, his successor’s flagship
ministers shocked Nigerians by
publicly admitting that rather than
embark on new projects in 2016,
they would only endeavour to build
on Jonathan’s achievements. What
are the facts?
For a country that had witnessed a
rot in infrastructure, President
Jonathan’s silent revamping mission,
through his Transformation Agenda,
had been constructing roads and
bridges, building dams for electricity
and agriculture, resuscitating the
railway, revamping the airports and
equipping them, equipping hospitals,
creating new schools and
universities, especially the almajiri
schools in the north, among others.
In addition, Jonathan’s government
had started the diversification of
Nigeria’s economy away from its
mono focus on oil. For example,
during Jonathan’s administration,
services contributed 52 per cent to
the economy, while oil’s contribution
to the GDP declined to 14 per cent
from over 33 per cent.
Agriculture, which used to be the
mainstay of Nigeria’s economy
before the discovery of oil, was given
a big boost by Jonathan’s
government. He dealt a blow on the
racketeering in the fertiliser
distribution, ending the N50 billion
per annum fraud in less than 3
months. Jonathan’s government
introduced e-wallet system to bypass
corrupt middlemen and deliver
fertiliser and seedlings to 12 million
farmers is an innovation that has
attracted the attention of the world.
The United Nations, World Bank, the
African Union, India, China,
Argentina, and other countries are
all adopting the pioneering initiative
of Jonathan’s government.
Jonathan’s government gave strong
encouragement to local production
of food, which increased food
production in Nigeria in all fields:
rice, cocoa, palm oil, cassava,
sorghum, etc. Nigeria is now 85
percent food sufficient. Our export
bill on food had dropped from N1.4
trillion per annum to below N700
million. This had created a new crop
of young farmer millionaires. That
the 2012 flood disaster did not cause
any food shortage in Nigeria was a
testimony to President Jonathan’s
boost in agriculture. Furthermore,
that the global downturn and
devaluation of the Naira did not
affect food prices in Nigeria confirms
that there was surplus food in the
market. These did not happen by
accident.
During the Jonathan administration,
manufacturing sector’s share of the
GDP had climbed from 4 per cent to
about 7 per cent. What is
particularly significant is that his
administration’s automotive policy
had given a fillip to local vehicle
manufacture and assembly. In
addition to Innoson Motors that had
started local manufacture of vehicles
in Nnewi, Anambra State, other big
auto companies like Nissan, Toyota,
Honda, etc, which hitherto were
importing fully assembled cars into
the country for sale, have changed
their policy by setting up plants in
Nigeria. Automobile imports have
dropped by 20%, even as 20 other
auto makers had either begun
exploration or indicated an interest
to set up plants in Nigeria. This had
boosted the economy by creating
jobs and reducing capital flight.
Furthermore, Jonathan’s
government policies and practice
had placed Nigeria as the number
one destination in foreign direct
investment in Africa as Nigeria’s
economy was placed as the 26th in
the world and the biggest in Africa,
surpassing South Africa.
Since he left office, the former
president has been summoned for
several high profile international
assignments, not because he
conceded defeat after serving only
one term but based on his
democratic credentials while serving
the one term. The most important of
these credentials is his passionate
belief in the transparency of
elections, which he executed since he
came to power.
Through a deliberate policy of
granting autonomy to Nigeria’s
electoral umpire, the Independent
National Electoral Commission
(INEC), and non-interference in the
judiciary process, the “Jonathan
effect” had taken power away from
incumbent political office holders
(including, ironically, President
Jonathan himself), political god
fathers, and electoral officers and
returned it to the electorate. The
trust the President fostered in the
electoral system had encouraged
more trustworthy and visionary
people to venture into politics, to
contest and win in the last (2015)
general elections, as attested to by
the improved quality of men and
women who presently sit in the 8th
National Assembly and among the
state governors as well.. The trust in
the electoral system also makes
elected officials to concentrate on
satisfying the electorate with
superior performance to be
returned.
On the foreign scene, several months
after he left office, former President
Jonathan was appointed leader of
the 33-nation Commonwealth
International observer mission to
monitor the Tanzanian general
elections held in October 2015. The
Daily News of Tanzania reported
that Tanzanians were happy that the
former Nigerian leader, whom they
described as “a hero of free and fair
election in Africa” would lead the
observer mission believing that
Jonathan’s presence would bring
credibility to the polls.
Yet, another of former President
Jonathan’s democratic credential,
which has raised his stature within
the international community, was
his commitment to the multiparty
democracy; there were no political
assassinations, no political prisoners,
and no harassment of opponents or
critics of his administration as were
obtainable before President
Jonathan came to power—and after
he was voted out of office. Compared
to his predecessors and successor,
Goodluck Jonathan’s respect for the
rule of law, individual liberty, and
freedom of expression had raised the
bar as the reference point in the
political and social climate of our
country.
For example, it is on record that
while he was the Commander-in-
Chief, former President Goodluck
Jonathan was attacked by
miscreants twice during his re-
electioneering campaign in Katsina
and Bauchi. The miscreants went
beyond barricading his convoy to
actually stoning him. Yet, no single
shot was fired at the attackers;
nobody was injured other than some
of the President’s security details
who were wounded by the attackers
and hospitalised. President Jonathan
did not order his security details to
open fire on the miscreants on the
spot. Neither did he ask that their
leadership be fished out in their
various homes and be shot - because
President Jonathan believed that his
political ambition was not worth the
blood of any Nigerian citizen,
including those miscreants who
attacked his convoy and stoned him
in Katsina and Bauchi.
It is instructive to note that no
Nigerian politician alive commands
the enormous goodwill, followership
and dignity that Jonathan attained in
a moment of history bestowed upon
him by destiny and fate. By leaving
the stage when the ovation was
loudest, Jonathan opened a golden
page in the chapters of democracy’s
history, showing clearly to the world
that Africa was not a continent of
incompetent leaders and despotic
rulers who sit tight in office at the
expense of their nations’ future.
Jonathan demonstrated rare
leadership where others failed to
lead, putting him in the class of
greatness where leaders only in the
mold of Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson
Mandela, Theodore Roosevelt,
Mahatma Gandhi and Winston
Churchill belong.

www.lindaikejisblog.com/2015/12/the-trent-names-goodluck-jonathan-as.html?m=1

Cc: lalasticlala

Truely..truely the end time is near how can u call somebody that is a murderer,corrupt and a fool person man of the year 2015....it looks as if the man don smoke Nigeriahem

I laugh in German. The Trent, a well known PDP propaganda media outlet, names GEJ 'Person Of The Year'. Well, no surprises here. i expect other PDP propaganda medias, like Thebreakingtimes, Savinggrace to tow same path.

some people will not sleep well this night




www.nairaland.com/attachments/3133546_oscargej_jpeg4f403523ef873522ae02c61b64fd466a

Very well deserved honour.

Oladimejy:
Truely..truely the end time is near how can u call somebody that is a murderer,corrupt and a fool person man of the year 2015....it looks as if the man don smoke Nigeriahem

Take it easy bro. That you hate your elder does not give you the right to insult hhim, especially when its obvious your argument lacks facts.

Oladimejy:
Truely..truely the end time is near how can u call somebody that is a murderer,corrupt and a fool person man of the year 2015....it looks as if the man don smoke Nigeriahem

Eiya, abeg He kill any of your family member? Just asking

The Trent, a.k.a TRENTONLINE

I thought they were going to name Tinubu man of the year?

dustmalik:
I laugh in German. The Trent, a well known PDP propaganda media outlet, names GEJ 'Person Of The Year'. Well, no surprises here. i expect other PDP propaganda medias, like Thebreakingtimes, Savinggrace to tow same path.

Keep laffing in west germany while GEJ is being celebrated everywhere. So all the international bodies and media honoring GEJ are pro-PDP abi? Smh