Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A former Minister of Youths and Sports Development in the cabinet of ex-Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has said his principal was not weak but took action to save the country from bloodshed after he lost his seat at the 2015 presidential election.
Abdullahi, a journalist and former Commissioner for Education in Kwara State, described Jonathan as a patriotic Nigerian, who as a leader was careful not to hurt anyone, even if it took him sacrificing his position.
The former minister made the clarification at the weekend, during the unveiling of his book tilted: “On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria”, hosted by an organisation, the ‘August Meeting’ convened by Mr Kingsley Wali, in Port Harcourt.
Speaking on his experience as a minister, Abdullahi said the important lesson Jonathan taught everyone was love for the country, adding that the former president never ruled as a dictator, but obeyed the constitution in his leadership.
“Definitely President Jonathan was not weak nor clueless from my experience. Most important thing I know about him is that he is very patriotic, but as a patriot, he is also someone who is careful about how he uses power.
“He (Jonathan) understands the enormity of the power of the president and he used to say that if the president of Nigeria uses 30 per cent of the power at his disposal, he would become a dictator.
“So, he is someone who is careful and also reluctant to hurt people. Because of his reluctance to hurt people, it is possible that some one would interpret it as weakness. Some of the things that he did at the time that people regarded him as clueless, some other people have done the same thing or even worse.
“I think he was a victim of that kind of politics of that time. I think if he had been president of this time, he would probably have had a different approach,” he said.
