Luck knocked on the acting president’s door as far back as 1998 when he was informed by the late Chief Justice of Bayelsa State, Justice Emmanuel Igoniwari, that he was picked as a running mate of the former governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha for the Bayelsa State gubernatorial election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He was made governor after Alamieyeseigha’s controversial impeachment and was finally picked  as the presidential running mate to Yar’adua in December, 2006 -all at the alleged instance of the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Jonathan was in the news again on May 15, 2007, in the wake of the presidential elections. The then presidential running mate’s country home in Otueke was bombed by unknown militants at about 2am though he was not around when the attack was carried out.

The residence, a rebuilt portion in which his father, Pa Ebele Jonathan, was later buried, was completely razed. Two policemen, an inspector and a corporal were killed during the attack. The parents of the governor had to be spirited to safety while a nearby police station was being raided by the militants.

His recent enthronement as acting president by the Senate marked the peak of his date with luck. It was not unexpected to those familiar with the festering health crisis of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and the controversial leadership vacuum which his over two months absence has been generating across the country

Jonathan’s presidency’s challenges

Apart from the spectre of legitimacy that is haunting his presidency so far, another salient issue that is dominating public discourse is the capacity of the acting president to confront the mounting challenges facing the country.

According to a Kaduna-based legal practitioner and human rights campaigner, Barrister Sadau Garba, the acting president has very little to offer the country because “his hands would be tied by the same forces in the National Assembly and other places who ‘illegally’ brought him to power. He claimed that the lawmakers’ interest is not far from the lack of funds occasioned by President Yar’adua’s absence. Naturally, they had to install Jonathan to sign their cheques and do their other selfish biddings.”

“His ascension is another opportunity for Obasanjo’s loyalists who are now wandering in political oblivion to stage a comeback. It is an avenue for all manner of sycophants, governors, former leaders, and all manner of political jobbers under several umbrellas to proclaim their loyalty to the acting president for personal reasons. In fact, it is the same corrupt, old game foisting an overbearing cabal on the country,” Garba said.   

Barrister Festus Okoye, a lawyer and President, of the Human Rights Monitor, told Sunday Trust that Jonathan’s “basic responsibility at this moment is to hold the nation together, propel the machinery of government to avoid gaps and carry himself in a manner befitting his office. He will make fundamental errors and mistakes if he allows the present clamour and speculations to overwhelm him or propel him to take wrong steps and make fundamental mistakes.

“But if you look around Africa, you will see persons who served as vice president and were regarded as weaklings only for them to assume office and either perform better than their predecessors or assumed monstrous powers that consumed those who regarded them as weaklings.”

Name:  Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

Date of Birth: November 20, 1957

Village: Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State – Nigeria.

Primary School: St. Stephen Primary School (now State School – Otuoke) and later proceeded to St Michael Primary School – Oloibiri where he passed his First School Leaving Certificate in 1971.

Secondary School: Mater Dei High School – Imiringi 1971-1975.

Higher Education: University of Port Harcourt, 1977-1981(graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons.) Second Class (Upper Division) in Zoology.  In 1985, he got Master of Science (M.Sc.) Degree in Hydro-Biology and Fisheries Biology, and bagged Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology in 1995.

First Employment: Preventive Officer in the Department of Customs and Excise from 1975 to 1977.

Last Employment: Assistant Director in the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), in March 1993.

Political Posts: Elected deputy governor in1999 and reelected in 2003. In 2005, he became governor following the removal of his boss, Alamieyeseigha and in May 2007 he assumed office as vice president.

As Student: Goodluck was appointed Class Prefect in class three in 1973; he was further appointed Secretary to the School Food Committee. And in his class four and five, he was again appointed Masterson House Prefect while his fellow prefects unanimously elected him as Chairman of the Committee of Prefects.

Membership Of Professional Bodies: Member of Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), a Fellow of the International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA), a Fellow of the Public Administrators of Nigeria (PAN), and Honorary Fellowship of the Nigerian Environment society

Awards: “Best Performing Deputy Governor Award in the Federation in 2002, by the Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria (IPAN). The National Association of Women in Education Development honoured him with the Award of “Exemplary Leadership Quality and Good Governance” in July 2003.  The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abuja Council conferred on him a prestigious Honorary Award for Democracy and Good Governance.