Yesterday, former president Goodluck Jonathan, held a public
presentation of his book titled ''My Transition Hours'' to commemorate
his 61st birthday. In the no-holds-barred book, the former president
chronicled the activities before and after the 2015 presidential
election which he lost to President Buhari.The former president in one
of the chapters in the book, alleged that the recession Nigeria's
economy faced after his exit from office, was self inflicted by the APC
government to tarnish his image and that of his government. Recall that
in August 2016 Nigeria's economy official slide into recession but by
September 2017, the economy was announced to have been out of
recession.In his book, Jonathan said that the clueless tag given to his
administration by the current government and their sympathisers, was to
humilate him and everyone that served under him. Jonathan stated that
the APC government instead of working for the progress of the country,
came up with the blatant lie that they inherited an empty treasury. Read
except from the book below“Recall that the opposition and their
sympathisers and campaigners, both local and international, with their
malicious propaganda, tore our economy to shreds, threatened our
stability and existence as a nation and intimidated our citizens, all in
the bid to take over power. Nevertheless, we conducted ourselves in a
manner that allowed a peaceful transfer of power from a ruling party to
an opposition party, for the first time since Independence in 1960.
Rather than forge a coalition and build on the momentum we had gathered
when they eventually took office, they went on a persecution spree and
vengeance mission. That the country slipped into recession soon after we
left office was a self-inflicted injury caused by misplaced priorities.
The narrative of inheriting empty treasury is a blatant lie.“Also, the
excuse of the collapse of world crude prices does not hold water. This
is because the Fourth Republic took off in 1999 with crude oil selling
for less than $20 per barrel and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
at 0.58 per cent, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
figures. Yet, the economy maintained a steady growth from that year,
peaking at 15.33 per cent in 2002 when the average crude oil price was
about $25.“It is also instructive that the oil and gas sector constitute
about 11 per cent of our GDP. There had to be a wider causative factor
than just the fall in world crude prices.“It also amounts to standing
facts on their heads to continuously claim that recession was caused by
so-called mindless looting. The truth is that the opposition, in a bid
to undo our government, became its own undoing when it got to power,
because of the burden of justifying deliberate misrepresentations. There
is wisdom in the saying that if you win a prize and get the crown,
don’t go around destroying the person who previously held that prize; it
will lose its value. Even after winning the election and forming the
government at the centre, the blame game continued. When two brothers
fight to death, it is the neighbour that inherits their father’s wealth.
And we have seen neigbouring nations like the Republic of Benin and
Ghana reaping from the capital flight out of Nigeria.“Despite Nigeria’s
attainment of Independence from Britain ahead of most other African
countries, we have been increasingly conditioned to seek succour in the
blame game. It is time for Nigeria to take responsibility. As Gen.
Murtala Mohammed said while addressing the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU), now African Union (AU) in 1976 that ‘Africa has come of age’. I
add that Nigeria has come of age. We either live up to that or we don’t.
I am convinced that we can, and we should. We must as a nation always
strive to improve the quality of life of our citizens and make
developmental plans that will focus on the younger generation. That way,
Nigeria will not be a liability to the rest of the world. Our
population will be an albatross to us and our allies if we do not take
the necessary step to tum it into a great opportunity.“The sundry
accusations by the new administration would appear to have baited the
media. Media trials are entertaining, but have little or no effect in
fighting corruption and improving the economy. Since I left office,
rather than improve on our TI (Transparency International) corruption
perception record, the situation has worsened with the nation going 12
places backward, becoming number 148 according to the latest CPI ranking
for 2017, from 136 in 2014 when I was president.“It was bad enough that
Boko Haram insurgents continue killing people and ruining businesses,
but what is worse is when politicians downgrade the economy by
demarketing the country internationally. You should never try to slander
your political opponents by destroying your country’s economy. Capital
flight intensified and companies started laying off staff. In all these,
I hope a lesson would be learnt. If you embark on digging a hole for
your enemy, you better make it shallow, because you might end up in the
hole yourself. How do you attract investors you already repelled through
your utterances? Investors are an ultra-sensitive lot. Money runs away
from unstable societies.“Most painful have been the attacks on my
ministers, aides and associates and even members of my family. There is
an attempt to erase our legacy from history. The good thing is that the
unending barrage of attacks, deliberate misinformation and programmed
media smear campaigns have failed to sway the opinion of those with a
clear view of our beliefs, efforts and achievements. There are millions
of Nigerians and others around the world who are still impressed with
our modest achievements in consolidating democracy and growing the
nation’s economy. They will continue to serve as my strength and
encouragement. Sometimes, I laugh when certain propagandists attempt to
stand logic on its head by maligning my administration as one bereft of
ideas and ‘clueless’.“In assessing my administration, it is best to
focus on facts. I cannot assess myself. I leave that to history. But I
can assess my cabinet and I make bold to say that never in the history
of Nigeria, till date, has the nation had such a star-studded cabinet,
full of achievers and people who got to the top of their chosen fields
by merit. Just consider that my minister of State for Health, Dr.
Muhammed Ali Pate, is now a professor at America’s Duke University, as
well as a Senior Adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation based
in Washington DC. My minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, is
now the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).My
Co-ordinating minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, is the chairperson of
the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)
and the African Risk Capacity (ARC). She also sits on the board of
Twitter and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, just as she is a
Senior Adviser at Lazard and a Director at Standard Chartered Plc in the
United Kingdom, amongst others.My minister of Communication Technology,
Dr. Omobola Johnson, is currently Chairperson of Custodian and Allied
Insurance Limited as well as the Global Alliance for Affordable
Internet. And it is not just members of my cabinet. Others who served
with me in different capacities are also soaring on the world stage. A
good example is Ms. Arunma Oteh, who I appointed the Director-General of
the Securities and Exchange Commissnon (SEC).Under her steady and
skillful direction, Nigeria’s equity market grew in metric proportions,
and by the time I left office in 2015, the market had tripled in size to
$150 billion in value. Two months after I left office, Ms. Oteh was
appointed a Vice President and Treasurer at the World Bank.“These are
reputable individuals who served their country meritoriously and who, on
the strength of their performance as ministers in my government, are
now waxing stronger and valiantly on the world stage with only the sky
as their limit. With such personalities on my cabinet, no one can
factually say we were ‘clueless’ or inept. The evidence of performance
is simply overwhelming. We gave Nigeria an impressive and steady GDP
growth rate at 6.7 per cent per annum.“We were officially cited as the
third fastest growing economy in the world by CNN Money in 2014. We
eradicated polio and guinea worm and became the first nation in the
world to defeat the Ebola virus, such that the then richest man in the
world, Bill Gates celebrated us for our prowess in the health sector. We
reduced our food import bill by 36 per cent.“I did the best that I
could to preserve Nigeria’s unity and ensure a brighter future for all
Nigerian children. This remains my driving force even now that I am out
of office. I can hold my head high in my post-presidential life to say
that under my watch, no Nigerian was witch-hunted because of his or her
views and not one political assassination occurred under me.“The
momentum we built was a welcome development and a necessary boost which I
recommend to other African nations as a means to help the continent
expand capacity and reduce youth unemployment. These are some of the
positive steps I took to guide Nigeria safely to land during the
difficult times she found herself. Looking back, I can say that I have a
sense of fulfilment. It is said that a good conscience suffers no
accusations.“I have served Nigeria with all my strength and God alone is
the judge of the universe. I certainly hope that all those who cast
aspersions at us can say the same about themselves because the end of a
matter is better than its beginning. I had no enemies to fight; I have
none still. It is obvious that the world is happy with President Paul
Kagame of Rwanda. The country came out of genocide. President Kagame
made propaganda his enemy and got to work. Although Rwanda experienced
the worst genocide in Africa’s recent history, it is today the toast of
the world.“My hope is that African leaders must embrace the concept of
democracy that delivers purposeful leadership, improves the lives of the
people and envision a secure future for the nation. Africa is critical
to global progress and for that reason I urge all African nations to
work with fidelity and commitment for the greater good of the
continent.“Looking into the future, I see that our leaders can do a lot
to eliminate ethnic sentiments in our societies, enthrone merit and
build a system that gives citizens equal opportunities to excel. A
country that cannot use its best brains will lag behind in the comity of
nations. African leaders should remove key impediments limiting our
growth. When we build capacity in the youth, it will unleash the
creativity that would catalyse rapid development.“Since after my
handover, and as part of the dedication of the rest of my life to the
cause of peace and good governance, God helping me, I have engaged
myself in finding ways of advancing the course of democracy and good
governance in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world, through my
Foundation, the Goodluckjonathan Foundation (GJF). The GJF will partner
with all men and organisations of goodwill across the globes who believe
in the ideals to which we have committed ourselves. We will seek to
prevent conflicts, create conducive environment for businesses to
thrive, work to advance the frontiers of education and create employment
for the youth as well as encourage them to be self-employed. Millions
of our people need help. We need to develop home-grown talents. We must
aid educationally-disadvantaged children. Nigeria must become the beacon
of hope in Africa. I urge Nigerians and Africans to join me in the
effort to create a fresh thinking and enlightenment of the people of
this great country and our wonderful continent as we speak out against
unrestrained and reckless craving for political office.“We have to
rebuild our nations but we must start by rebuilding ourselves. So, let
us roll up our sleeves and go to work, actualising our dream, hopes and
aspirations for a prosperous and peaceful Nigeria and Africa.”The post Recession after my handover was self-inflicted by this present government to make me look bad- Jonathan says.Recession after my handover was self-inflicted by this present government to make me look bad- Jonathan says
Yesterday, former president Goodluck Jonathan, held a public
presentation of his book titled ''My Transition Hours'' to commemorate
his 61st birthday. In the no-holds-barred book, the former president
chronicled the activities before and after the 2015 presidential
election which he lost to President Buhari.The former president in one
of the chapters in the book, alleged that the recession Nigeria's
economy faced after his exit from office, was self inflicted by the APC
government to tarnish his image and that of his government. Recall that
in August 2016 Nigeria's economy official slide into recession but by
September 2017, the economy was announced to have been out of
recession.In his book, Jonathan said that the clueless tag given to his
administration by the current government and their sympathisers, was to
humilate him and everyone that served under him. Jonathan stated that
the APC government instead of working for the progress of the country,
came up with the blatant lie that they inherited an empty treasury. Read
except from the book below“Recall that the opposition and their
sympathisers and campaigners, both local and international, with their
malicious propaganda, tore our economy to shreds, threatened our
stability and existence as a nation and intimidated our citizens, all in
the bid to take over power. Nevertheless, we conducted ourselves in a
manner that allowed a peaceful transfer of power from a ruling party to
an opposition party, for the first time since Independence in 1960.
Rather than forge a coalition and build on the momentum we had gathered
when they eventually took office, they went on a persecution spree and
vengeance mission. That the country slipped into recession soon after we
left office was a self-inflicted injury caused by misplaced priorities.
The narrative of inheriting empty treasury is a blatant lie.“Also, the
excuse of the collapse of world crude prices does not hold water. This
is because the Fourth Republic took off in 1999 with crude oil selling
for less than $20 per barrel and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
at 0.58 per cent, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
figures. Yet, the economy maintained a steady growth from that year,
peaking at 15.33 per cent in 2002 when the average crude oil price was
about $25.“It is also instructive that the oil and gas sector constitute
about 11 per cent of our GDP. There had to be a wider causative factor
than just the fall in world crude prices.“It also amounts to standing
facts on their heads to continuously claim that recession was caused by
so-called mindless looting. The truth is that the opposition, in a bid
to undo our government, became its own undoing when it got to power,
because of the burden of justifying deliberate misrepresentations. There
is wisdom in the saying that if you win a prize and get the crown,
don’t go around destroying the person who previously held that prize; it
will lose its value. Even after winning the election and forming the
government at the centre, the blame game continued. When two brothers
fight to death, it is the neighbour that inherits their father’s wealth.
And we have seen neigbouring nations like the Republic of Benin and
Ghana reaping from the capital flight out of Nigeria.“Despite Nigeria’s
attainment of Independence from Britain ahead of most other African
countries, we have been increasingly conditioned to seek succour in the
blame game. It is time for Nigeria to take responsibility. As Gen.
Murtala Mohammed said while addressing the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU), now African Union (AU) in 1976 that ‘Africa has come of age’. I
add that Nigeria has come of age. We either live up to that or we don’t.
I am convinced that we can, and we should. We must as a nation always
strive to improve the quality of life of our citizens and make
developmental plans that will focus on the younger generation. That way,
Nigeria will not be a liability to the rest of the world. Our
population will be an albatross to us and our allies if we do not take
the necessary step to tum it into a great opportunity.“The sundry
accusations by the new administration would appear to have baited the
media. Media trials are entertaining, but have little or no effect in
fighting corruption and improving the economy. Since I left office,
rather than improve on our TI (Transparency International) corruption
perception record, the situation has worsened with the nation going 12
places backward, becoming number 148 according to the latest CPI ranking
for 2017, from 136 in 2014 when I was president.“It was bad enough that
Boko Haram insurgents continue killing people and ruining businesses,
but what is worse is when politicians downgrade the economy by
demarketing the country internationally. You should never try to slander
your political opponents by destroying your country’s economy. Capital
flight intensified and companies started laying off staff. In all these,
I hope a lesson would be learnt. If you embark on digging a hole for
your enemy, you better make it shallow, because you might end up in the
hole yourself. How do you attract investors you already repelled through
your utterances? Investors are an ultra-sensitive lot. Money runs away
from unstable societies.“Most painful have been the attacks on my
ministers, aides and associates and even members of my family. There is
an attempt to erase our legacy from history. The good thing is that the
unending barrage of attacks, deliberate misinformation and programmed
media smear campaigns have failed to sway the opinion of those with a
clear view of our beliefs, efforts and achievements. There are millions
of Nigerians and others around the world who are still impressed with
our modest achievements in consolidating democracy and growing the
nation’s economy. They will continue to serve as my strength and
encouragement. Sometimes, I laugh when certain propagandists attempt to
stand logic on its head by maligning my administration as one bereft of
ideas and ‘clueless’.“In assessing my administration, it is best to
focus on facts. I cannot assess myself. I leave that to history. But I
can assess my cabinet and I make bold to say that never in the history
of Nigeria, till date, has the nation had such a star-studded cabinet,
full of achievers and people who got to the top of their chosen fields
by merit. Just consider that my minister of State for Health, Dr.
Muhammed Ali Pate, is now a professor at America’s Duke University, as
well as a Senior Adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation based
in Washington DC. My minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, is
now the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).My
Co-ordinating minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, is the chairperson of
the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI)
and the African Risk Capacity (ARC). She also sits on the board of
Twitter and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, just as she is a
Senior Adviser at Lazard and a Director at Standard Chartered Plc in the
United Kingdom, amongst others.My minister of Communication Technology,
Dr. Omobola Johnson, is currently Chairperson of Custodian and Allied
Insurance Limited as well as the Global Alliance for Affordable
Internet. And it is not just members of my cabinet. Others who served
with me in different capacities are also soaring on the world stage. A
good example is Ms. Arunma Oteh, who I appointed the Director-General of
the Securities and Exchange Commissnon (SEC).Under her steady and
skillful direction, Nigeria’s equity market grew in metric proportions,
and by the time I left office in 2015, the market had tripled in size to
$150 billion in value. Two months after I left office, Ms. Oteh was
appointed a Vice President and Treasurer at the World Bank.“These are
reputable individuals who served their country meritoriously and who, on
the strength of their performance as ministers in my government, are
now waxing stronger and valiantly on the world stage with only the sky
as their limit. With such personalities on my cabinet, no one can
factually say we were ‘clueless’ or inept. The evidence of performance
is simply overwhelming. We gave Nigeria an impressive and steady GDP
growth rate at 6.7 per cent per annum.“We were officially cited as the
third fastest growing economy in the world by CNN Money in 2014. We
eradicated polio and guinea worm and became the first nation in the
world to defeat the Ebola virus, such that the then richest man in the
world, Bill Gates celebrated us for our prowess in the health sector. We
reduced our food import bill by 36 per cent.“I did the best that I
could to preserve Nigeria’s unity and ensure a brighter future for all
Nigerian children. This remains my driving force even now that I am out
of office. I can hold my head high in my post-presidential life to say
that under my watch, no Nigerian was witch-hunted because of his or her
views and not one political assassination occurred under me.“The
momentum we built was a welcome development and a necessary boost which I
recommend to other African nations as a means to help the continent
expand capacity and reduce youth unemployment. These are some of the
positive steps I took to guide Nigeria safely to land during the
difficult times she found herself. Looking back, I can say that I have a
sense of fulfilment. It is said that a good conscience suffers no
accusations.“I have served Nigeria with all my strength and God alone is
the judge of the universe. I certainly hope that all those who cast
aspersions at us can say the same about themselves because the end of a
matter is better than its beginning. I had no enemies to fight; I have
none still. It is obvious that the world is happy with President Paul
Kagame of Rwanda. The country came out of genocide. President Kagame
made propaganda his enemy and got to work. Although Rwanda experienced
the worst genocide in Africa’s recent history, it is today the toast of
the world.“My hope is that African leaders must embrace the concept of
democracy that delivers purposeful leadership, improves the lives of the
people and envision a secure future for the nation. Africa is critical
to global progress and for that reason I urge all African nations to
work with fidelity and commitment for the greater good of the
continent.“Looking into the future, I see that our leaders can do a lot
to eliminate ethnic sentiments in our societies, enthrone merit and
build a system that gives citizens equal opportunities to excel. A
country that cannot use its best brains will lag behind in the comity of
nations. African leaders should remove key impediments limiting our
growth. When we build capacity in the youth, it will unleash the
creativity that would catalyse rapid development.“Since after my
handover, and as part of the dedication of the rest of my life to the
cause of peace and good governance, God helping me, I have engaged
myself in finding ways of advancing the course of democracy and good
governance in Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world, through my
Foundation, the Goodluckjonathan Foundation (GJF). The GJF will partner
with all men and organisations of goodwill across the globes who believe
in the ideals to which we have committed ourselves. We will seek to
prevent conflicts, create conducive environment for businesses to
thrive, work to advance the frontiers of education and create employment
for the youth as well as encourage them to be self-employed. Millions
of our people need help. We need to develop home-grown talents. We must
aid educationally-disadvantaged children. Nigeria must become the beacon
of hope in Africa. I urge Nigerians and Africans to join me in the
effort to create a fresh thinking and enlightenment of the people of
this great country and our wonderful continent as we speak out against
unrestrained and reckless craving for political office.“We have to
rebuild our nations but we must start by rebuilding ourselves. So, let
us roll up our sleeves and go to work, actualising our dream, hopes and
aspirations for a prosperous and peaceful Nigeria and Africa.”The post Recession after my handover was self-inflicted by this present government to make me look bad- Jonathan says.
