Yemi Adebowale
Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan has described the Person of the Year Award 2015 conferred on him by The Trent online newspaper as a “pleasant surprise.”
Speaking exclusively to SIGNAL on Monday, the former President could not hide his emotions as he felt deeply touched by the kind gesture and honour coming months after he has left office.
“This is a pleasant surprise. I feel extremely humbled. I couldn’t have imagined that a group of young people would consider me worthy of this great honour months after I left office as President. Usually, people like us receive awards when we are in office because of the position and power that we have. It is moments like this that you actually realize the people who are truly your friends. I see this award as an encouragement not just for me but the upcoming generations of Nigerians. I see it also as a celebration of how far Nigeria has come as a democracy. I commend the Editorial Board of The Trent and wish them the very best in their journalistic endeavors”, he said.
In an editorial to celebrate the conferment of the Person of the Year 2015 award on the former president, The Trent extolled Jonathan’s strides in leadership spanning several sectors of Nigeria’s development from the economy to agriculture, infrastructure and electoral reforms.
According to the online newspaper, “No Nigerian politician alive commands the enormous goodwill, followership and dignity that Jonathan attained in a moment of history bestowed upon him by destiny and fate. By leaving the stage when the ovation was loudest, Jonathan opened a golden page in the chapters of democracy’s history, showing clearly to the world that Africa was not a continent of incompetent leaders and despotic rulers who sit tight in office at the expense of their nations’ future.”
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