Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is Nigeria’s 14th head of state and current president, but that’s all common knowledge. It’s also common knowledge that he originally came into office after the former president fell ill. Here are some lesser-known things worth learning about.
Jonathan was born to a family of canoe makers
Jonathan was born in what is now Bayelsa State to a family of canoe makers. In the oil-rich Niger Delta region, this was a somewhat unusual occupation, and Goodluck made the even more rare decision not to follow in his parents’ footsteps.
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He has a Ph.D in Zoology
Which might be a bit of an oddity for a sitting head of state. But Jonathan began with a bachelor’s degree in zoology, and followed up with an master’s in hydrobiology and fisheries biology and a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. Who knows, maybe the Nigerian presidential office has a ton a pets!
He worked as an environmental protection officer before taking office
Among other things. Before entering into the political arena in 1998, Jonathan worked as an education inspector, a lecturer, and more memorably as an environmental protection officer. It was in this latter capacity that he stepped into the public light, serving as a watch dog on many corporations in the country.
Jonathan seems to have a penchant for being in the right place at the right time
It’s common knowledge that he assumed the presidency following then-President Olusegun Obansajo’s illness, but that wasn’t the first time he had to lead. In 1999, he was deputy governor for his home state of Bayelsa when the governor was impeached on corruption charges. Jonathan moved into the open position, beginning his more illustrious political career.
His fedora is one of his more memorable signature features
The fedora has character, but a former U.S. ambassador made the unfortunate comment that Jonathan lacked charisma and possessed an “underwhelming personality,” a slip of the tongue uncovered in the WikiLeaks scandal.
As vice president, he kept a low profile but was instrumental in several key moments
One of Jonathan’s niche roles was as a negotiator with his fellow Ijaws. He managed to help forge an agreement with militant groups in the Niger Delta to stop a rash of violence and encouraged them to lay down their weapons in exchange for amnesty, a move celebrated both by his administration and by citizens country wide.
Jonathan tried to ban the Nigerian national soccer team after a poor showing at the 2010 World Cup
After the Nigerian soccer team didn’t progress past the group stage at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Jonathan tried to implement a two-year ban on the team’s participation in international competition. He later backtracked due to pressure from FIFA, but it was pretty clear he wasn’t pleased with the performance.
Jonathan became the first sitting Nigerian president to have his own Facebook page
Jonathan launched his Facebook page in June 2010 to help better interact with the Nigerian people. He used it as a platform to announce his run for office in 2011, which would represent his first actual run for political election.
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