Ex-president Jonathan lists four legacies of his administration

Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has listed some of the legacies he left behind when he was still in power.
The former Bayelsa state governor, who was ousted by President Muhammadu Buhari last year, has been tagged one of Nigeria’s most corrupt leaders, but in one of his meetings at the Mayor’s office in Newark, New Jersey, United States, the Otuoke-born Jonathan listed some of the legacies he left for the country.
Jonathan who spoke to Friends of Africa Coalition on “Strengthening Democracy and Elections” on Saturday, April 23, said the 2015 general elections in Nigeria had potential for major crisis.
According to This Day, he noted also that the campaigns leading to the elections almost polarised the country into Christian versus Muslims; north versus South divide.
“Some pundits even from here in the United States said that those elections would spell the end of Nigeria and that we would cease to exist as a nation because of the polls. That is where the leadership question comes into play.
“As a leader that was duly elected by the people, I considered the people’s interest first. How do I manage my people to avoid killings and destruction of properties? With the interest of the people propelling all the decisions I took, we were able to sail through.
“Indeed, we sailed through because I refused to interfere with the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, having appointed a man I had never met in my life to run it.
My philosophy was simple. For elections to be credible, I as a leader, must value the process more than the product of the process. And the citizens must have confidence in the electoral body,” Jonathan stated.

He then went ahead to list some achievements of his administration thus:

1. Strict adherence to the rule of the law ensured that Nigeria’s peace, prosperity and progress were not derailed by the conduct and results of the 2015 elections.

2. I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again.

3. I inherited a Nigeria that was a net importer of cement, and handed over a Nigeria that is a net exporter of cement.

4. In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa, but I handed over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa.

Adding: “These are but a few of the parameters that illustrate some of the economic transformations we engineered during my term in office.”
While he was listing his legacies in New Jersey, the former president was honoured by the cities of Antioch and Lathrop in California for promoting peace and democracy in Africa.
Premium Times reports that the award ceremony was held in Antioch, on Saturday, April 23.
In his speech, Wade Harper, the mayor of the city, expressed his admiration for Jonathan and declared that the city of Antioch was proud of his legacies.
He commended the former president for overseeing free, fair and conclusive elections and leaving the scene when the ovation was loudest.