Former President Goodluck Jonathan has countered former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who recently criticized his age of leadership of the country.
Reacting on Monday, Jonathan acknowledged that leadership inevitably involves errors but rejected the notion that his age undermined his performance.
“A very senior politician recently said, ‘Oh, Jonathan was too young and probably that’s why he made mistakes.’ If I made mistakes, yes, nobody who becomes a governor or a president can say they did not make mistakes. Even when you promote yourself to the level of a god, you become a deity. All human beings make mistakes.”
“I became president in 2010 at the age of 53. I left in 2015 at 58, and they say I was too young. Must I have been 100 years old before I ran the affairs of the state?” Jonathan stated.
The former president maintained that, despite any shortcomings, he made decisions he believed were in the country’s best interest.
He highlighted Nigeria’s diplomatic strides during his tenure, including its election to the United Nations Security Council.
Jonathan also addressed regional affairs, warning that political instability remains a major obstacle to economic growth across West Africa.
He stressed that without stable governance systems, meaningful development in the sub-region would remain elusive.
