Former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan served from 2010 to 2015. He lost his position to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 presidential elections making him the first sitting president to be defeated in the history of Nigeria. In this article, we would be looking at everything there’s to know about him.
The politician was born to a poor canoe maker, Lawrence Ebele Jonathan and Eunice Jonathan on November 20, 1957. He got the name ”Goodluck” for surviving childhood after his other siblings died due to poverty.
Goodluck Jonathan got his primary and secondary education from local Christian schools in Niger Delta. He received his first degree, a BSc in Zoology, from the University of Port Harcourt in 1981. He did not stop his educational journey when he got his BSc. As a good student, he went on to earn an MSc in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Zoology in 1995. During his university education, he also lectured at Rivers State College of Education from 1983 until 1993. He started his career at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, a now-defunct government agency, where he served as an assistant director. He worked for this commission from 1993 to 1998. According to reports, Jonathan started his political career in the late 1990s. This was when he became involved with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This party helped him to become the deputy governor of Bayelsa state. He was elected deputy governor of Bayelsa state in 1999 under the party’s banner. He served in that position until 2005 when he was promoted to the governorship after the incumbent was charged with corruption and impeached.
In 2007, he was picked to be the vice-presidential running mate of the PDP’s presidential candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He and Yar’Adua were selected in April and initiated in May. One of his main achievements throughout his vice-presidency days was his discussion with Niger Delta militants who were fighting against petroleum companies working in the Delta region He became the acting president of the country in February 2010, due to Yar’Adua’s lengthened absence from the country for medical treatment. When Yar’Adua came back to Nigeria on February 24, 2010, it was announced that Jonathan would remain as acting president while Yar’Adua continued to recover. Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and Jonathan was sworn in as president the following day.
Goodluck Jonathan met Patience Faka Jonathan at the Rivers State College of Arts and Science. Goodluck was one of her lecturers in the Department of Biological Sciences while she was among the students reading for the Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) and the B.Ed. Degree. The two got married in 1993 and have two children, a boy named Ariwera Adolphus Jonathan and a girl named Aruabi Jonathan.