Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has thrilled a crowd of
intellectuals and students while speaking at the Oxford
Union of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that his
administration fought corruption in the country without
making noise about it. Jonathan said this while
speaking at the Oxford Union of the University of Oxford
in the United Kingdom on Monday.
While speaking to a packed crowd of students and
intellectuals, on the theme “Promoting Youth
Entrepreneurship” , Jonathan responded to inquiries by
some of the students regarding his administration’s
fight against corruption.
Mr. Jonathan said he would not like to “interfere with
the legal processes” because “several matters are
pending in court”. However, he said his administration
did its best to reform the anti-corruption agencies to
enable them function effectively.
“We reformed the institutions and introduced various
mechanisms to stop the corruption problems in our
country without publicity,” he said.
Using his Twitter handle, the former president paid
glowing tributes to Nigerian youth and said “any Nation
that does not spend its wealth and resources to develop
the capacity of its youth, will be forced to use them to
fight insecurity.
“As a leader, you can decide through your policies to
educate the youth, or face the consequences of failing
to do so. ”
Mr. Jonathan also said his administration put in place
some youth related policies, which, he said, helped
grow the Nigerian economy.
“Despite incredible challenges, Nigerian youths are
achieving great things and placing Nigeria positively in
the world map. They inspire us,” he said.
He also said his administration increased the
allowances due to Youth Corps members by more than
100% in 2011.
Mr. Jonathan added that the PDP administration that he
led “identified Nollywood as a sector that can employ
many young people and provided a grant of $200 million
to boost the industry”.
“As a result, Nollywood became a major contributor to
our GDP and in 2014, the industry contributed 1.4% to
our GDP,” he said.
“We may not have been perfect, but we did our best, and
our best yielded an era of unprecedented economic
growth for Nigeria. A growth that proved the truism that
a Nation’s wealth is not underneath the ground but
between the ears of her people.
“Under my watch, Nigeria was projected by CNN Money
to be the third fastest growing economy in the world for
the year 2015.
“While serving as President of Nigeria, I worked for the
next generation and not for the next elections. I have no
regrets for what I did,” Mr. Jonathan said.
The former president also called on contemporary
African leaders to see youth entrepreneurship as a
collective project transcending national boundaries.
intellectuals and students while speaking at the Oxford
Union of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that his
administration fought corruption in the country without
making noise about it. Jonathan said this while
speaking at the Oxford Union of the University of Oxford
in the United Kingdom on Monday.
While speaking to a packed crowd of students and
intellectuals, on the theme “Promoting Youth
Entrepreneurship” , Jonathan responded to inquiries by
some of the students regarding his administration’s
fight against corruption.
Mr. Jonathan said he would not like to “interfere with
the legal processes” because “several matters are
pending in court”. However, he said his administration
did its best to reform the anti-corruption agencies to
enable them function effectively.
“We reformed the institutions and introduced various
mechanisms to stop the corruption problems in our
country without publicity,” he said.
Using his Twitter handle, the former president paid
glowing tributes to Nigerian youth and said “any Nation
that does not spend its wealth and resources to develop
the capacity of its youth, will be forced to use them to
fight insecurity.
“As a leader, you can decide through your policies to
educate the youth, or face the consequences of failing
to do so. ”
Mr. Jonathan also said his administration put in place
some youth related policies, which, he said, helped
grow the Nigerian economy.
“Despite incredible challenges, Nigerian youths are
achieving great things and placing Nigeria positively in
the world map. They inspire us,” he said.
He also said his administration increased the
allowances due to Youth Corps members by more than
100% in 2011.
Mr. Jonathan added that the PDP administration that he
led “identified Nollywood as a sector that can employ
many young people and provided a grant of $200 million
to boost the industry”.
“As a result, Nollywood became a major contributor to
our GDP and in 2014, the industry contributed 1.4% to
our GDP,” he said.
“We may not have been perfect, but we did our best, and
our best yielded an era of unprecedented economic
growth for Nigeria. A growth that proved the truism that
a Nation’s wealth is not underneath the ground but
between the ears of her people.
“Under my watch, Nigeria was projected by CNN Money
to be the third fastest growing economy in the world for
the year 2015.
“While serving as President of Nigeria, I worked for the
next generation and not for the next elections. I have no
regrets for what I did,” Mr. Jonathan said.
The former president also called on contemporary
African leaders to see youth entrepreneurship as a
collective project transcending national boundaries.
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