'I hope my wife won't desert me' - President says he already lost friends

dimeji akinloye

May 10, 2015 8:34 PM

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that his decision to let the electoral process play out objectively and his concession of defeat has won him more enemies than friends.

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that his decision to let the electoral process play out objectively and his concession of defeat has won him more enemies than friends.

Speaking at a thanksgiving and farewell service held in his honour in Abuja today, May 10, Jonathan said some of his allies have deserted him after his loss at the polls, and that he knows many more will still do, noting that it is a price he has to pay for the greater good of Nigeria.

“Some hard decisions have their own cost, no doubt about that. That I have ran the government this way that stabilized certain things, the electoral process and other things that brought stability into this country. They were very costly decisions which I myself must be ready to pay for,” the President said.

Jonathan likened his current situation to that of South Africa’s apartheid ruler F.W. De Clerk, whose wife left him after he decided to abolish minority rule in the country.

He said, “When F.W. De clerk took the decision to abolish minority rule in South Africa, even his wife divorced him. I hope my wife will not divorce me. But that is the only decision that has made South Africa to still remain a global player by this time. If we still had that minority rule there, by this time, nobody will be talking about South Africa.”

The President then said he hopes his wife will not desert him for accepting defeat in the March 28 election, to which Dame “Mama Peace” Patience responded “Nooooo.” The worshippers at the church then applauded the First Lady.

The thanksgiving service was Patience Jonathan's first appearance since her husband lost his re-election.

In his farewell message, Jonathan said he may have lost the election and friends, but he is leaving office a filled man, adding that the Ministers who served under him should be ready to be prosecuted by the Buhari government.

He added, “when I look at the whole picture of my life up to when I became the President of this country. And I say that if soldiers and police officers that have not received 0. 5 per cent of the benefits that I have received from the state can lay their lives for this country, I should do anything in the interest of Nigeria including paying the supreme price.

“As long as live, I will continue to do my best for the state because the state has helped me as a person.

“I have to thank Nigerians especially my state for giving me the opportunity to serve as deputy governor and the whole country gave me the opportunity to serve as Vice President and then President, first was to complete the tenure of the late President and later serve as President from which I am exiting now as a very happy and fulfilled man.”

dimeji akinloye