what becomes of his marriage to Dame Patience due to his acceptance of
defeat at the just concluded poll.
Vanguard reports that the president said this, while ruminating aloud
on the next phase of his life during a thanksgiving and farewell
service in his honour at the Cathedral Church of the Advent Life-Camp,
Gwarinpa, Abuja.
The president who will be handing over to the president elect, General
Muhammadu Buhari, come May 29 used as an example, the former South
African Apartheid leader, F.W de Klerk whose wife divorced him for
ending minority rule in South Africa.
He said: "I believe there are reasons for everything. Some hard
decisions have their own cost. That I have ran the government this way
that stabilized certain things, the electoral process and other things
that brought stability into this country. They were very costly
decisions which I must be ready to pay for.
"Some people come to me and say this or that person, is he not your
friend? Is it not your government that this person benefited from? But
this is what the person is saying. But I used to say, worse statements
will come. If you take certain decisions, you should know that those
close to you will even abandon you at some point. And I tell them that
more of my so-called friends will disappear. When F.W de Klerk took
the decision to abolish minority rule in RSA, even his wife divorced
him. I hope my wife will not divorce me. But that is the only decision
that has made RSA to still remain a global player. If we still had
minority rule there, by this time, nobody will be talking about RSA.
"If you take certain decisions, it might be good for the generality of
the people but it might affect people differently. So for ministers
and aides who served with me, I sympathize with them, they will be
persecuted. And they must be ready for that persecution"he said.
President Jonathan however made it known that although some of his
ministers did not like the fact that he conceded defeat, he is however
grateful that "the ordinary people appreciate what we did."He further
thanked God Almighty and Nigerians as a whole for giving him the
opportunity to serve them at various levels.
"Very few of those in my age brackets have been that lucky. All
through my education were on government scholarships. I have not
suffered lack, not because I'm hard-working but by God's grace.
"When I look at the whole picture of my life up to when I became the
president of this country. I say that if soldiers and police officers
that have not received 0.5 per cent of the benefits that I have
received from the state can lay their lives for this country, I should
do anything in the interest of Nigeria including paying the supreme
price.
"As long as live, I will continue to do my best for the state because
the state has helped me as a person. "I have to thank Nigerians
especially, my state for giving me the opportunity to serve as deputy
governor, and the whole country gave me the opportunity to serve as
Vice President and then President, first was to complete the tenure of
the late president and later serve as president from which I am
exiting now as a very happy and fulfilled man".
Yesterday, while meeting with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
committee set up to assess the party's loss in the recently concluded
elections, Jonathan said he was going to direct all his efforts to
return the PDP to its winning ways by 2019.
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