Jonathan Reveals How His Presidential Convoy Was Attacked in Katsina,  Bauchi, Yola , Adamawa 

Former President Goodluck Jonathan says his election into office in 2011 was beyond human control and against what he called “ political order . ”
Jonathan said this in his book , “ My Transition Hours , ” which was presented to the public in Abuja on Tuesday .

The former president said all those who had been president before him were from major ethnic groups .

He listed those who had been president of Nigeria either by election or through violent overthrow of government to buttress his point .
He said , “ Now , from the above list , my readers will understand what I meant by emerging onto the scene as president against the established political order .

“ Of the 13 heads of government Nigeria has had , eight have been Hausa / Fulani ( a majority ethnic nationality ) .

“ Two of them have been Yoruba ( another majority ethnic nationality ) . One of them was from a northern ethnic minority and the other was Igbo ( one of the three large majority tribes ) .

“ I remain the only one to be elected from a southern minority ethnic nationality as president of Nigeria . My election was due to circumstances largely beyond human control.

“ I became president against the established pattern of choosing Nigerian leaders from amongst the majority ethnicities . ”

Jonathan added that most of the intractable problems which bedevilled governance in Nigeria proved endemic and enduring , not because they could not be easily solved or that the capacity to resolve was absent , “ but because these problems were actually instituted and defended for tribal sentiments . ”

He added , “ It mattered crucially that I strayed into power coming from an ethnic group that is not considered one of the majority or aristocratic groups .

“ I was worse in their consideration because I was also not individually blue -blooded .

“ Perhaps it would have been less insulting to them if I had come from a wealthy background , but considering what the like of Chief M . K . O Abiola went through despite his great wealth , it may not have mattered if I came from a moneyed background . ”

Jonathan also said he could have allowed youths to attack President Muhammadu Buhari when he was in his home state , Bayelsa for campaign ahead of the 2015 elections in reprisal of the treatment meted out to him in Katsina State and other parts of the North.

He said it would have been even easier to attack Buhari who was not yet the president as of the time , but violence was not his style .

He recalled that despite that he did not preach hate during his campaign , youths were recruited to attack his convoy in the North which was Buhari’ s stronghold .

He said there was no shortage of courageous youths who could retaliate when Buhari visited his state but he decided to prevail on his supporters not to do so.

He said he and his supporters simply put the attacks behind them and forged ahead with a violence -free campaign .

The former president added that the security agents in his convoy would have been justified if they had used deadly force to repel those who attacked his convoy in the North , but he restrained them .

Such attacks, he noted , did not happen in the South either to him or his opponent .

Jonathan said , “ The essence of my campaign was to promote democracy and social justice which encompasses love , peace and togetherness . I did not preach hate.

“ Other political parties had other ideas and it was clear as soon as our campaign train entered the Northern part of Nigeria , especially the North West and North East which were the strongholds of my opponent .

“ Young people were recruited to pelt my convoy with stones in three Northern states . The attack happened in Katsina on January 21 , 2015 ; in Bauchi on January 22 , 2015 and in Yola , Adamawa on January 29 , 2015 .

“ It is a treasonable offence to attack the convoy of a President . The security agents attached to me would have been justified if they had used deadly force , but I restrained them .

“ It was alarming that some older , highly -placed people would use innocent children as cannon fodder , all for the sake of power . Such occurrences never happened in Southern Nigeria either to me or my main opponent . ”

Jonathan added , “ On the day those youths were programmed to pelt my convoy with stones , the instigators were out for two things , the least of which was to embrace their President . It was considered a huge mileage for their campaign . Humiliating the President of their country was a fair game .

“ At that point , they were not thinking of Nigeria , that is if they ever thought of Nigeria at all . The fury of their thirst for power did not allow them to think about the implications for the country .

“ They did not even think about the office they wanted and the consequences of diminishing it before it gets to them . It was single -minded recklessness . We could not but stare that history in the face .

“ The other thing they were out for and which they desperately hoped would happen was for any of the youth to be wounded or even killed . It was a tense situation . The Boko Haram was at its ugliest moments .

“ The presidential security could easily have fired at the source of the missiles , thinking it was the insurgents . But we responded differently . I have always said it and meant it . Nothing I wanted was worth the blood of a human being , least of all , the people I had the direct charge to protect ; the people I swore to serve .

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“ Muhammadu Buhari was in my home state and I proactively ensured that nothing of that sort happened . He was not the president and it would have been easy to return the dubious compliment .

“ There was no shortage of courageous young men ready to carry out such a mission . We could also have simply denied complicity as they did , but it was not my way . “

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