The fortune of the President whose father christened him Goodluck

The good fortune that has propelled Nigerian leader Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan from birth in November, 1957, to become the 14th Head of State of the Republic of Nigeria, following the footsteps of his namesake, Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first Nigerian to be named head of state since independence from British colonial rule in October 1960 seems to be holding.

'Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP (People's Democratic Party), having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared winner, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Altahiru Jega, said in an official statement in Abuja on Monday.

Dr. Jonathan led the PDP to poll 22, 495,187 of the popular votes. His main rival, retired General Muhamadu Buhari of the Congress of Progressive Change, won 12,214,853 of the popular votes.

To win in the first round, the electoral rules in Nigeria require a candidate to win at least 25 percent in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states, as well as winning the majority vote of the total valid votes cast.

For once, in the political evolution of this oil rich nation, the vote was certified as credible, free and fair. Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, who led the African Union team to monitor the polls, told reporters in Abuja that he was thrilled at the orderly manner of the polls, and hoped that the new leader would take over from there, and improve the living conditions of the people.

The fairness of the vote had an immediate impact on Nigeria's business dealings with the international community. Veronica Kalema, a London-based director of Fitch's Sovereign Group, said in a telephone interview with Reuters: 'We would now need to see what the new government would do in implementing some reforms, which would shield the excess crude account from electron cycles, and would reform the sovereign wealth fund.'

She said: 'We are due to do a ratings visit around August. By then, they would have had enough time to implement reforms. Then we'll see what to do.'

According to data compiled by Bloomfield, Nigeria's Euro bonds, due by 2021, rated three levels below investment grade by Fitch, rose for a third day after the poll, gaining 0.3 percent to 103.19 cents on the dollar as at 11:30 a.m. yesterday, the third highest since the bond was issued in January.

Everything though, does not look all that rosy. With the losing candidate disputing the result, rioting has broken out in the mainly Muslin north, where Muhamadu Buhari has his core support. Homes of supporters of the President have been attacked with all manner of offensive weapons, setting them alight, according to various reports from Nigeria.

Latest reports indicate that several people have been killed, and at least 300 seriously injured.

Young supporters of defeated Mahamadu Buhari have clashed with the police and the military. According to Reuters, unconfirmed reports speak of several deaths and injuries.  Local television is said to have reported that the Kaduna home of Vice-President-elect Nnamdi Dambo has been set on fire.

Kano's Central Prison is reported to have been invaded and the inmates released. A spate of killings of politicians in Borno State has been blamed on the Islamic Sect, Boko Haram, on racial and religious grounds. Since the results were released, the violence has become increasingly political.

Two gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a soldier in Maiduguri on the eve of the ballot. Trouble has been reported from Katsina, Kano, Adamawa, Niger and Jigawa. Churches and mosques have all been burnt down.

Just as the presidential results were being declared, an explosion hit a police station in Maiduguri. 'People are so scared, some have started abandoning the polling stations,' said one resident in the northern city.

A bomb was said to have blasted in the local office of the Independent Electoral Commission in Maiduguri late on Monday night. Nobody was injured though. Sporadic bursts of gunfire were also reported in the city.

The spate of violence is being engineered by persons who have failed to accept the results of the last elections, according to Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringam, who issued an official statement.

As Kaduna was put under a 24-hour curfew, the new President spoke on the disturbances. 'No one's political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.'

The prophetic words tell much about the task ahead of the new President, who has the task of reconciling a country that has forever remained divided, since Nigeria went to war in the 1960s over irreconcilable differences.

The former Governor of Bayelsa State would need a lot of the luck, for which he is famously known, to build the sprawling nation into one cohesive unit. One correspondent in Abuja said of the new head of state. 'He has enjoyed a meteoric rise to power, largely by being at the right place at the same time.'

Goodluck Jonathan was born in the Oluke Ogbia Local Council area of the oil-rich Eastern Region in November 1957, a year after oil was discovered in 1956. Later, the state became known as Byelsa.

His father, Ebele Jonathan, a canoe maker from Ijaw, said the name Goodluck came to him when his son was born. He 'instinctively realised' that his child had that element of fortune, and decided to christen him Goodluck.

The new President is married to Patience. They have two children. The President of Nigeria holds a Bsc degree in Zoology. He also has a master's degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology. He completed his PHD in Zoology at the University of Port Harcourt.

Goodluck worked as an Education Inspector and a university Don before entering politics, by joining the ruling PDP in 1998.

He was Deputy Governor when the substantive leader of the state, Governor Diepreye Alamieye-Seigha, was impeached after being arrested in London and charged with money laundering. In 2006, Goodluck Jonathan was selected to become the running mate to deceased Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died in 2010, after being hospitalised in Saudi Arabia.

A politician with good fortune, the new President would have to count on more than luck to bring Nigeria together. He appears to enjoy a good following from Nigerians tired of elections being almost always rigged.

Next month, he will be formally inducted into office, this time on his own merit. Whether his victory would signal a new beginning, especially, with the militants in his own backyard of Ogoni warriors agreeing to lay down their arms is yet to be seen.

In the interim, Nigerians expect that the good luck that has aided the meteoric rise of the new President would rub off on the nation. It is a test that Mr. Jonathan is determined to pass with distinction.

   Comments0