I Conceded Defeat To Buhari To Avoid The Bloodbath Of 2011 – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has once again reiterated that he conceded defeat to his main challenger, General Muhammadu Buhari, to avoid the bloodbath of 2011 in which 10 youth corps members were killed in Bauchi State by supporters of Buhari.

Speaking at the African Ambassadors Interactive Forum (AAIF), on Tuesday in Abuja where he was honoured with the ‘African Leadership & Achievement Award’, Jonathan said: “Above all, what that decision did for me and the nation was to avert a looming crisis. Given the tension in the land at that time, I was deeply contemplative of what would have happened if we had let our nation, the biggest black nation on earth, slide into anarchy, because of contestations for power. What then would have happened to our citizens, Nigeria’s economy and the investments driving its growth? I was convinced that the implication for peace and the economy of the sub-region and the rest of the continent, couldn’t have spelled anything else but doom.

Advertisement

“Recall that after the 2011 Presidential election which most observers adjudged transparent, with my victory generally seen to have been well deserved, crisis and conflicts still surfaced that claimed the lives of many of our compatriots, and properties worth billions of naira destroyed. I am always saddened each time I remember that among those who died needlessly then were 10 youths undergoing the compulsory one-year national service, who unfortunately got killed in a State where I secured only 16 percent of votes. Before the 2015 elections, there was palpable tension in the land, to the extent that some international agencies, especially in the United States, were predicting the disintegration of the country in the election year.”

According to him, he is consoled by the fact that he “reformed the democratic process as President in order to consolidate democracy in Nigeria and the sub-region. I conceded defeat without a fight because I wanted to set a standard for our democracy, going forward. My aim then was to change the narrative and prove that election related litigations should no longer define Nigeria’s democracy. People must not always go to court and obtain judgments before elections in Nigeria are declared complete.

“We don’t get to hear about such court cases in mature democracies. I wanted us to get to that point in our democratic experience. I thought that it won’t be out of place if we got to that stage where those who lost elections will be able to congratulate those who won.”

The Forum said the award is based on Jonathan’s “outstanding role in deepening democracy in Africa by your exemplary leadership before, during and after 2015 presidential elections, particularly for not interfering with the electoral process and for your abiding phrase ‘my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian’.

Leave a comment

Advertisement