By Tunde Olayode

I am not surprised President Goodluck Jonathan did not win Mo’ Ibrahim Prize for Excellent African Leadership, (5 million US Dollar over ten years and 200,000 US Dollar annually for life) after been nominated (or was he tipped?) like President Olusegun Aremu Okikiolu  Obasanjo. Who was not awarded too, apparently because of his infamous alleged third term misadventure, that tainted and cast a slur on what would have been his glorious post-Presidency.

In the case of President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck discountenancing how he tried to pull the string of ensuring a credible election, atleast in the public eyes, let us ignore how they emptied Nigeria treasury into that historical most competitive  election in our political evolvement.

His early concession of defeat, his historical routing of  a call to President Muhammad Buhari and their subsequent telephone conversation  to congratulate him, that simmered palpable thick tension that loomed and enveloped every where then. Consequently, nothing can  eclipsed his place in history on this noble score because doing on the contrary, would had tipped Nigeria off the trampoline she was teetering into a total anarchy and infamy.

However, President Jonathan was not an excellent President neither a great one by any permutation, nor near exceptional that Mo’ Ibrahim was looking for. He was an unfeigned poor manager of people (his appointees) and of resources. I guess when Mo’ Ibrahim award panelist, were deconstructing his Presidency, they discovered he has more hardened stain on his Presidential garment, than his hype romantics and adulation about conceding defeat which cannot wash away, even with “hypo”, from his Presidential garment. And in the reasoning of the highly esteemed panelist of the prestigious Mo’ Ibrahim Excellent Africa Leadership Prize, its a fail.

My own take away from this is that you cannot make a mess of your rare privilege to serve for years, and then pull a window dressing at the twilight of your leadership, hoping that your window dressing, will obliterate your mess, in the consciousness of the humanity. No sir! My generation a lesson to us!

TUNDE OLAYODE, is a public affairs analyst cum freelance writer. His writing spans over five years and covers, leadership,social political happening and economy.

The views expressed here are solely that of the writer and in no way expresses the views of the blog owner