Goodluck Jonathan, an ex-president of Nigeria, has revealed that he never wanted to be vice president when he was appointed to contest alongside the late Umar Musa Yar’Adua in 2007.
While serving as the Governor of Bayelsa State, Jonathan was picked as late Yar’Adua’s running mate in the presidential ticket in 2007.
Disappointed at the appointment, though, he had to take up the mantle, realizing that it was his fate. He even said he literally cried when he was chosen the late Yar’Adua. They won the election and he served as the vice president for three years before the Yar’Adua’s demise.
Jonathan stated this while on his condolence visit to Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State over the death of his father at Sampou community in Kolokuma/Opokuma L.G.A. of the state.
“As a leader in the country who had the privilege of serving at the state level and national level, I can only advise that politics is not about that you must be there. If God wants you to be there, you will be there. If it is not yet your turn to be there, you will not be there. When I became a vice president I almost cried, I never wanted to, but that was my destiny and I had to move.
“So, I advise people who are interested in these offices and their supporters to conduct themselves very well. They want to serve us, not to serve themselves,” Jonathan said.
He added: “I always tell people that if you are so ambitious, then go into business. If you want to be in the state assembly and people don’t want you, fine, go and sleep. You want to be a governor and people don’t want you, go and sleep or do business. But if you want to serve us as people then you must be humble and you will not kill us before you serve us. So, people must conduct themselves peacefully and if God wants them to win their elections, they will win their elections.”
After Yar’Adua’s death, Jonathan assumed the office of the president and completed their tenure. He contested in the 2011 election and was elected to serve for another four years. In 2015, however, he lost his re-election to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
