FORMER President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan GCFR, GCON clocks 62 years today. He was born on, 20th November 1957, in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
He attended Christian primary and secondary schools in his region of Niger Delta and later attended the University of Port Harcourt where he got B.S. in zoology (1981), an M.S. in hydrobiology and fisheries biology (1985), and a Ph.D. in zoology (1995).
He taught at Rivers State College of Education from 1983 until 1993. He then served as an assistant director at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, a now defunct government agency, from 1993 until 1998. The commission is now called NDDC.
Goodluck Jonathan politics in the late 1990s and pitched tent with PDP. He was elected deputy governor of Bayelsa state in 1999 under the party’s banner. He served in that position until 2005, when he was elevated to the governorship after the incumbent was charged with corruption and impeached.
In 2007 he was selected to be the vice presidential running mate of the PDP’s presidential candidate, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He and Yar’Adua were elected in April and inaugurated in May.
Yar’Adua died on May 5, 2010, and Jonathan was sworn in as president the following day. Jonathan vowed to continue his involvement in the Niger delta peace negotiations and declared his intentions to reform the country’s oft-criticized electoral process as well as tackle corruption and deal with the country’s energy problems.
In 2011, Jonathan and Vice-President Sambo won the general election against General Muhammadu Buhari and his running mate Pastor Tunde Bakare with 59% of the votes. On 18 April 2011, Jonathan was declared the winner of the election
Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari, becoming the first sitting Nigerian president to concede electoral defeat.
He is happily married to Patience Faka Jonathan.
She was born on October 25, 1957, and helped her husband rule the country from 2010 to 2015. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Port Harcourt and started her career at Stella Maris College. Nonetheless, she also served as a permanent secretary in Bayelsa state.
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