Goodluck Jonathan Biography: Early Life, Career, Awards & Net Worrh
good Goodluck-Jonathan-Biography Jonathan GCFR GCON (born November 20, 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as Nigeria’s president from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military leader General Muhammadu Buhari, becoming Nigeria’s first incumbent president to lose re-election.
Jonathan previously served as vice president of Nigeria under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration from 2007 to 2010, as well as governor of oil-rich Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007 and deputy governor from 1999 to 2005.
In 2015, Jonathan became the first Nigerian president to admit loss in an election.
Goodluck Jonathan Biography
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was born on November 20, 1957, in Ogbia to a Christian Ijaw canoe making family from Otuoke, Bayelsa State. His father, Lawrence Ebele Jonathan, was a canoe manufacturer, while his mother, Eunice Ayi Ebele Jonathan, was a retired farmer.
Goodluck Jonathan Education.
He went to a Christian primary and high school. Jonathan earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology (second-class honours), a master’s degree in hydrobiology and fisheries biology, and a PhD in zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. From 1983 to 1993, he taught at Rivers State College of Education.
Career
Before entering politics in 1998, Jonathan worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental protection officer. His political career began in the late 1990s, when he joined the newly formed People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Jonathan entered politics after General Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s military leader of state from 1993 to 1998, died in office. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha stood for governor of Bayelsa State in 1999 on the Peoples Democratic Party platform, with Jonathan serving as his running mate.
Alamieyeseigha won the election and became Bayelsa State’s first civilian governor in May 1999.
They were re-elected in 2003, and Jonathan’s diligence and loyalty to him gained him notoriety as Nigeria’s most hard-working deputy governor.
On May 29, 1999, Jonathan was sworn in as deputy governor of Bayelsa alongside Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the state’s governor elected on the PDP platform.
Jonathan served as the Deputy Governor until December 2005. Jonathan, the deputy governor at the time, was sworn in as governor of Bayelsa State on December 9, 2005, following the ouster of governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha by the Bayelsa State House of Assembly for money laundering in the United Kingdom.
As Vice President, Jonathan maintained a quiet profile.
While acknowledging the constitutional limitations of the Vice President’s office, he attended cabinet meetings and was a member of the National Security Council, the National Defence Council, the Federal Executive Council, and the chairman of the National Economic Council.
Jonathan was appointed Acting President of Nigeria on February 9, 2010, following the Senate of Nigeria’s contentious doctrine of necessity in response to President Yar’Adua’s vacation to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment in November 2009. Jonathan made a small cabinet reshuffle on his first day as acting president, February 10, 2010.
Following President Yar’Adua’s death on May 5, 2010, Jonathan, as Acting President, was sworn in as substantive president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 6, 2010, in accordance with the order of succession outlined in the Nigerian constitution.
On May 18, 2010, the National Assembly supported Jonathan’s nomination of Kaduna State Governor Namadi Sambo to succeed him as Vice President.
Jonathan and Vice President Sambo attended political events and toured around the country to campaign for the nation’s highest position during the 2011 general election.
On May 29, 2011, he was sworn in as President of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, making him the 14th Head of State.
He delivered his inaugural address, declaring that his government will focus on a Transformation Agenda and promising to continue executing President Yar’Adua’s seven-point agenda policy framework.
In 2019, he was designated as an honorary special advisor to the Bayelsa Education Trust Fund board. In June 2019, Goodluck Jonathan was appointed chairperson of the newly formed International Summit Council for Peace.
Jonathan was designated as the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) special envoy to lead mediation negotiations during the 2020 Malian demonstrations.
Jonathan allegedly showed interest in running for president of Nigeria in 2023 under the All Progressives Congress (APC). An unknown political entity picked up the APC primary nomination form on his behalf.
Nothing more was heard of it, as Jonathan never came for screening at the APC Secretariat. Former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu emerged as the APC candidate in a primary election held on June 8, 2022, defeating then-vice president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and a slew of other candidates.
Goodluck Jonathan Wife
Jonathan married Patience Jonathan and has two children. Patience Faka Jonathan (born October 25, 1957) is a Nigerian civil servant who was the First Lady of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015 and the Second Lady of Nigeria from 2007 until 2010.
Goodluck Jonathan Net Worth
The net worth of the Nigerian ex-president is estimated at $10 million.
Social Media
X: @GEJomathan
