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| Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan |
A retired military officer and social critic, Abubakar Umar, has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan is a role model who deserve to be respected across Africa and beyond.
Mr. Umar, a retired colonel, said Mr. Jonathan deserved praises for his timely concession call to his major challenger in the 2015 presidential election. He said that “personal sacrifice” and display of sportsmanship during the contentious poll has made him a “beacon of hope for the growth of democracy in Africa.”
He said that was a clear departure from the norm across Africa, where leaders in times past refused to willingly relinquish power after being defeated at the ballot box.
Mr. Umar disclosed this in an interview he granted Abuja-based The Interview magazine, published this March.
“My interpretation of personal survival in this kind of situation is to tenaciously cling to power irrespective of the harm this may cause the nation and of course the incumbent,” the retired colonel said. “Our African experience has been for incumbents to choose this injurious option.”
Meanwhile many Nigerians argue that Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat because he was left with no choice, having failed to garner enough votes required to remain in office, others see his action as heroic, because he could still have used the powers at his disposal as an incumbent to either sway the election his way or force an outright cancellation of the poll, which could have plunged the country into chaos.
Mr. Jonathan, in the evening of March 30, 2015, placed the historic call to his challenger and now president, Mr. Buhari. That gesture of the former President alone relieved many Nigerians following anxiety that had gripped the nation for weeks leading up to the polls.
“The act alone has crowned him as a statesman,” Mr. Umar said. “He should be respected and used as a role model for his personal sacrifice.”
