By Adesina Soyooye
As humble as ever, former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, described his rise in politics from a nobody, literally, to Nigeria’s topmost job.
He, also, publicly revealed that it was President Olusegun Obasanjo who made him President.
Jonathan spoke on Friday in Lagos as the Guest of honour at the presentation of three books by his former Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Reuben Abati. The presentation of the books was part of the activities to mark Abati’s 60th birthday anniversary.
The former President commended Dr. Abati for his contributions to the media industry, and acknowledged him as his friend and younger brother.
He particularly praised
Abati for writing the books, especially, the one which chronicled his emergence as the President, titled, How Jonathan Became President.
On that book on his emergence as President, Jonathan said: “I’ll be very, very, interested to read how Goodluck Jonathan became President from back to back, and I need to do that in the next couple of days.”
He then added that he hoped that Abati, in the book, narrated how Obasanjo (who was the Chairman of the occasion) made him President.
Jonathan: “When you talk about how I became President, the man who made me President is right here. I hope you properly reflected on that role. I hope you captured his role. As a journalist, you followed up on my stories even before you joined me in the State House. So thank you for that.
“There were a lot of ups and downs in my political journey, but actually, my political journey looks like a political miracle, from deputy governor to becoming the President of this country in less than four years.
“It was a miracle. It’s only God that made it possible. So, I have to thank you for documenting it.”
Jonathan also said he hoped Abati’s book would provide an unbiased account of his (Jonathan’s) story because as an Observer, Abati would do a better job of it than if he, Jonathan, wrote a book on his Presidency.
He said: “When you tend to write about yourself, there’s this tendency to paint yourself in too many bright colours that probably you don’t deserve. But when people write about you, it makes more sense.
“And I know with your scholarly competence, this will be one of the best collections if somebody wants to read about Jonathan and the State House. I sincerely thank you.”
The presentation of the books was attended by too many high profile persons including top Traditional Rulers, Industrialists, Business men and women, top Journalists, top Politicians and more. The revered Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, His Lordship, Bishop Matthew Kukah, delivered the keynote address.
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