Losing election as incumbent will make you think the world is against you – Jonathan
By Jeffrey Agbo
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday took a trip down memory lane on the defeat he suffered in the 2015 presidential election.
Jonathan is the first incumbent president to lose an election in Nigeria. He was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari whose party, the All Progressives Congress, was formed by a coalition to knock out the Peoples Democratic Party.
On Friday, Jonathan recounted the fatherly role which the former chairman of Daar Communications, the late Raymond Dokpesi, played before he (Jonathan) handed over to Buhari.
The ex-leader spoke in Abuja during the first Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture organised by the management of Daar Communications in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.
READ ALSO:
Jonathan insists Sanusi was not “sacked” as CBN Governor but “suspended” over “serious infractions”
Jonathan said, “It is not easy to lose an election as a president. You will think the whole world is against you. But then, Dokpesi invited me before I handed it over. I remember what he said to me when I lost the election.
“There were so many senior Nigerians (elder statesmen) who spoke. After I listened to all the conversations, he congratulated me and encouraged me to look beyond the election. This is how I commemorated that session.
“That communication gave me hope and helped me not necessarily for the transition hour ahead of me but also in my spiritual life as a private citizen. If you read my book, My Transition Hours, I explained it more elaborately.”
Earlier in his address, the Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, urged Nigerians not to abuse the freedom of speech they are enjoying.
“Our respect for freedom of speech is sacrosanct even as we continue to urge responsibility in the exercise of this freedom. Nigerians are free to speak about this dear country of ours. What we can and will continue to do is to avoid getting to the point where reckless negativity becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts,” Mohammed stated.
