As President Jonathan Bows Out

The president ends his tenure this week in a style uncommon to Africa and full of useful lessons for politicians. Vincent Obia writes

Just few days to the end of his tenure, the headline-grabbing event last week in Accra was a fitting and delightful parting gift for President Goodluck Jonathan. In the Ghanaian capital on Tuesday, Jonathan was specially honoured by fellow leaders of the Economic Community of West African States for the civil manner he managed the last presidential election, where he conceded victory to Muhammadu Buhari.

While the votes were still being counted on March 31, Jonathan, who was the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, called his main rival and presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, Buhari, to concede defeat. It was a rarity in the African context, and the first time in Nigeria that the citizens would witness such a genteel and peaceful conclusion to the country’s normally tension-soaked presidential elections.

Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States and president of Ghana, John Mahama, led other ECOWAS leaders to applaud Jonathan during the 47th Ordinary Session of the Authority in Accra. Mahama said in his opening address at the conference that the success of the recent elections in Nigerian and Togo was a strong message to the world that the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance was real and operational.

“Let me on your behalf take this opportunity to highly commend our brother, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, for his personal show of mature statesmanship in the event that followed the presidential election held in Nigeria,” Mahama told the ECOWAS leaders. “I believe his name will be recorded in a special place when the history of Nigeria’s democracy comes to be written. Let me also on this occasion salute General Muhammadu Buhari for his victory in the presidential election.”

The thunderous applause that followed from the African and world leaders at the ECOWAS conference was a clear sign of the sense of relief the world felt with the peaceful conclusion of the elections in Nigeria.

Back home in Abuja, on Thursday, Buhari also extolled Jonathan as a statesman when the president-elect received the president of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou.

“His action actually doused tensions and averted crisis in Nigeria,” Buhari said of Jonathan. “Not only Africa but the world has commended the president for that because if he had disputed the elections, there would have been crisis in the country. That is what people don’t want, not only Nigerians but other countries. So, he came to commend President Jonathan for his courage and statesman- ship.”

Only few weeks before the March 28 presidential election, the atmosphere across the country had been charged and fouled by a bitter campaign. It was an electioneering process like no other. But the step taken by Jonathan was a soothing balm that put an end to all the tension and acrimony.

The world is full of commendation for Jonathan for his statesmanlike behaviour that is widely thought to have saved the country a lot of crisis. In a country divided mainly along ethnic and religious lines, Jonathan’s paradigm was a suitable balm to the spirit of violence, a stimulus for national unity. It is also a fitting lesson to politicians on how to conduct politics. Had political players in Nigeria learnt to follow conciliation with their opponents – rather than incitement – many of the unfortunate moments in history when political disagreements were turned into killing sprees, to borrow the words of US Secretary of State John Kerry, would have been averted.

Despite obvious failings on several economic and political fronts, the truth remains that Jonathan has given Africa, indeed the world, a lesson in statesmanship, which politicians in various climes can key to the peculiar circumstances of their societies for the advancement of democracy. The lesson of this rare statesmanship must not be lost on Nigerian politicians, especially, as Jonathan leaves the presidential throne this week.