An incumbent president running for re-election who has lost parts of his
country to Islamist rebels and whose administration has been hit by waves of
massive corruption scandals arguably has reason to worry.
But
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who launched his re-election bid on
Tuesday, has repeatedly defied expectations in his rise through the country’s
ruthless political world.
Many
have described his ascent to power as accidental — or simply a matter of luck.
Nigerian
President Goodluck Jonathan (R) and Nigerian Vice President Namadi Sambo greet
supporters at a ceremony in Abuja on November 11, 2014. Nigeria’s President
Goodluck Jonathan on November 11 declared his bid for re-election, vowing to
finally defeat Boko Haram whose rise in strength during his first term has
threatened the country’s sovereignty. The 56-year-old made the announcement to
tens of thousands of supporters in the red, white and green of his ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at a carefully orchestrated ceremony including
patriotic music, dancing, prayers and speeches. AFP PHOTO
The
56-year-old southern Christian, the first head of state from the oil-producing
Niger Delta, was thrust into the presidency in 2010 following the death of his
predecessor Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a Muslim from the north.
The
mild-mannered Jonathan is from a family of canoe makers who became a zoology
professor before joining politics in 1998.
“I
personally call him the accidental president. It was chance, good luck,” said
Adewale Maja-Pearce, a Lagos-based writer and contributing columnist for the
International New York Times.
“He
was plucked from obscurity because he was considered pliable.”
–
The right place at the right time –
As
for his distinctive name, his late father was quoted as saying that he “called
him Goodluck because although life was hard for me when he was born, I had this
feeling that this boy would bring me good luck”.
Fortune
certainly seems to have favoured Jonathan as he grew older.
An
unconfirmed report long circulated in local media that Jonathan, elected
assistant senior prefect at his secondary school, grabbed the top post when the
head prefect was expelled.
His
rise in government was similarly fortuitous, becoming governor of his native
Bayelsa state in 2005 after his predecessor was impeached over money-laundering
charges in Britain.
The
night he was nominated by his Peoples Democratic Party as Yar’Adua’s running
mate ahead of 2007 polls, most Nigerians had never heard of Jonathan.
A
magazine once described the Nigerian leader as “hardly a man to set the pulse
racing”.
–
Boko Haram, corruption –
Jonathan
launched his re-election campaign with Boko Haram controlling more than two
dozen towns and villages in the northeast and the day after a suspected member
of the Islamist group massacred nearly 50 students in a suicide bombing during
morning assembly.
Analysts
have said the five-year Boko Haram insurgency will likely hurt Jonathan
politically in the northeast, an opposition stronghold, but doubt its electoral
impact in the mostly Christian south where tribe and faith are often key
factors in determining votes.
Earlier
in his tenure, Jonathan won international praise for staffing his cabinet with
accomplished technocrats, notably ex-World Bank vice-president Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, who is his finance minister.
But
there have been countless accusations of major government graft, notably from
ex-central bank governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who said the state oil company
misused nearly $20 billion in public funds through 2012 and 2013.
And
Jonathan has failed to connect Nigeria’s masses with the nation’s huge oil
wealth.
Despite
being Africa’s top oil producer, most of the country’s 170 million people live
on less than $1.50 a day and only receive a paltry supply of electricity.
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