Top African leaders excited over Jonathan’s presidential poll lose –Obasanjo

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Olusegun Obasanjo,former President of Nigeria has said that some top
African leaders were satisfied over the loss of President Goodluck
Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
He told an audience at the United States Institute of Peace in
Washington DC that his checks in a number of African nations suggested
they were happy over the result of the election.
Obasanjo said some Nigerians described President Jonathan as a moving
train who was stopped from collapsing Nigeria.
Obasanjo, who led the African Union Observation Mission to the April
2015 General Election in Sudan to the event, said, "I have visited six
countries since the election, they are as happy about the results. It
is good not only for Nigeria, it is good for Africa and I believe it
is good for the world."
The former president also advised African leaders to shift from the
mentality of clinching to power by all means, urging them to
demonstrate statesmanship for the survival of the African continent.
The former president also said that the President-elect, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd) , "has moved Nigeria one very important step
up in our democracy."
He also advised African leaders to have consultations with elders in
order to promote public accountability and pave way for leaders who
were fearful of giving up power to step down in favour of a future of
statesmanship.
Obasanjo said, "Governance reform and capacity-building programmes,
for example, are apt to look everywhere but within. For a change, let
us move away from the melancholic issue of what is wrong with Africa.
"If we are truly committed to invigorating conversations about an
Africa-focused, Africa-led and Africa-driven framework for substantive
self-determination and sustainable development, it is important to
rethink and reframe how we situate Africa at the centre of inquiry."
He said countries like Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Gabon were among countries with leaders reluctant to give up power for
fear they might "land in prison or in the grave."
"What if African statespersons made a coordinated effort, measured
against concrete benchmarks, to strategically learn from their own
scorecards to help implement home-grown solutions for leadership,
governance and succession in government, business and civil society
sectors?" he asked.
Meanwhile, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Princeton Lyman,
described the former President as one of the world's leading
statesmen, adding that he set an example for governance.
He said the last general elections couldn't have been very hitch free
and successful without the input Goodluck Jonathan.
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