The Blood Jonathan Feared to Spill: How 2015’s Historic Concession Shaped Nigeria’s Fate

Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 election concession prevented nationwide bloodshed and reshaped Nigeria’s democracy. Femi Adeoti gives his opinion how Jonathan’s historic decision contrasted with subsequent political violence and its lasting impact on the nation.

He wrote;

No deodorisation or vilification intended. You may want to take it to the bank. For it’s a factual fact. None of the three principal characters chewed over. And weighed up here is deodorised or vilified. Not even any of them. It’s as simple as that.

All the same. He knew them inside-out. It’s given. And he read their fast-moving deceitful lips too accurately. He could predict precisely. The magnitude of evil they could perpetrate. Even in a jiffy. It’s in their DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid).

He wasn’t cut for that. He was scared. Promptly. He dumped whatever was his nursed ambition. He wisely crossed over. He opted for the people. He insisted, the nation’s overall interest was and still is germane, paramount. So, it must prevail.

It was a singular act. A patriotic move as it were. Dramatic? Oh Yes! That is how former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan disarmed them. Effortlessly with ease. And saved the day for us. That day was March 31, 2015. The announcement of the presidential election result was at its peak. Strong anxiety pervaded the air.

Jonathan pulled out a fast one. He put an historic call across to his main opponent, Muhammadu Buhari. He conceded defeat. It was swift. His reason made sense: “Nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.” Nationalistic patriotism at its zenith.

Even the greatest beneficiary of his large heart, Buhari, was shockingly taken aback. He demonstrated it. Jonathan’s call came at exactly 5:25 pm: “I said pardon me Mr. President? He said yes, I called to concede and congratulate you. That was very un-Nigerian.”

On Thursday, October 26, 2017. Jonathan reflected. He remained faithful to that decision he took more than two years earlier: “I always say that I reformed the democratic process as President to consolidate democracy in Nigeria and the sub-region.

“I conceded defeat without a fight because I wanted to set a standard for our democracy, going forward. My aim then was to change the narrative. People must not always go to court and obtain judgments before elections in Nigeria are declared complete.

“We don’t get to hear about such court cases in mature democracies. I thought that it won’t be out of place if we got to that stage where those who lost elections would be able to congratulate those who won.”

Sound argument. Good reasoning. But, what do we make out of our home-grown democracy today? The surprise Jonathan pulled with deftness in 2015, has been selfishly turned to our collective albatross. Encumbrance, millstone, impairment. Our greatest undoing so far. Unmatched in our chequered history.

What happened thereafter were devastating. They made mess of Jonathan’s priceless prized sacrifice. Turning patriotism to regret. Instantly. The fakery of their change mantra came into the open. Naked, nude and exposed. They walked it on its head. 

Killings, bloodshed, massacre, et al increased in leaps and bounds. Buhari tacitly gave his wicked approval to the atrocities. He remained largely silent. While the bloodbath festered and multiplied. That is the uncanny perseverance he was richly endowed with. We didn’t know he came after us. To make real, his lifetime ambition: The dreaded seven-letter-word; Revenge. 

And avenge, redress, he got in maximum abundance. By his actions and inactions. Body language and utterances. He nudged on his Fulani killer kinsmen. For more despicable activities. He vowed. He would continue this way. Until we learnt to live in peace with our Fulani jihadist “neighbours.”

His tragic regime ran on that heinous and hideous agenda. They did it for eight dark years. That was the change he promised. And the ultimate change he delivered. To his devilish satisfaction. He was contented.

Even in death, he stood up to be proudly counted. Promised vowed, promised kept. Until he ensured he brought us down. From-top-bottom. He refused to leave us alone. It was an evil determination. And executed devilishly to the letters. 

By the time, time forced Buhari out of our innocent lives. The blood Jonathan dared not spill had become a common sight: North, South; East and West. We were literally swimming in blood. A bloodbath of nauseating proportions.

Jonathan’s innocent refusal to shed blood. Ultimately made Buhari happened to us the dastardly manner it did. Simply put. We met our Waterloo in Buhari of Fulani descent. The evils Buhari did, will forever not only live after him. But also, hunt, haunt hurt him till eternity. No matter wherever he opted to spend his “weird” eternity.

To a certain sincere extent. Jonathan was honest with himself. He couldn’t stand bloodshed. So, he wouldn’t dare it. Because he feared it. Even more than that. He genuinely abhorred violence and bloodbath.

He couldn’t face the dire consequences. For he couldn’t bear the dreadful sight of blood. If he feigned pretence. And damned his conscience. That would have been it! For life. 

But he elected to be submissive. He obliged his discerning heart to take the best part of him. At that critical time. And he wholesomely did well. That was the path to walk at that moment. So, what Jonathan trembled to risk, who did it? The road Jonathan feared to tread. His successors are running on it with the speed of light. Tragic irony is it!

We were grossly unfair to Jonathan. We intentionally misconstrued his good intention for weakness. His fears were natural and real. He took that stance from the vantage of authority. His was a well-informed option.

He knew the fiendish plan of Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) for 2015 elections. They were up in arms. They swore. If the election didn’t go their way. Blood would flow. To actualise their nightmare. They brought in Fulani jihadists and militias. They flooded in. From Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Chad and Niger. Deadly ready for a full-scale onslaught.

Abubakar Kawu Baraje made the revelations when he turned 70. That was in 2022 in Ilorin, Kwara State. He’s APC’s former National Secretary. He didn’t stop at that: “The security agencies have not been open about the nature of the problem.”

But Jonathan thwarted all of that. He refused to spill blood to remain in power. He accepted defeat. He defused the situation. And the militias had nobody to fight. Rendered useless, jobless. That sent confusion, shivers and panic to the APC camp.

Baraje opened wider the Pandora Box for all to see: “After election, the Fulani have refused to leave. I and other like minds wrote and warned those who started APC with that this was going to happen but nobody listened.”

He vehemently insisted: “The Fulani men wreaking havoc in the country are not Nigerian Fulani.” Baraje should know. You can’t fault him. He is Fulani body, soul and spirit.

It was glaring. Buhari laid landmines for President Bola Tinubu. Very explosive indeed. A politician of Tinubu ilk and mode would not pretend ignorance. Tinubu deliberately walked into the trap. The reason is best known to him only. Perhaps.

But we can attest to this fact. Tinubu offered implicit approval to his actions and inactions. He insinuated this several times over. Before, during and after electioneering. In his best element, Tinubu was beating his chest, boasting around. Singing like African canary: Come and see the good job Buhari was doing.

We can see clearer now than ever before. We are saying all these about the dead for a very good reason. Not for the dead anymore. But for the reigning rulers. And aspiring leaders among us. Let them take heed with cautious discerning. And pick out useful lessons from the ugly deeds of the dead.

The so-called saying; Don’t speak evil of the dead. Certainly, does not hold water here. It’s immaterial. The dead’s deeds should be thoroughly interrogated. Good, bad, evil or ugly. We don’t want to fall again into the pit they led. It’s not about the dead any longer. But strictly about the deeds the dead did.

But Tinubu unrepentantly sticks to Buhari. He vowed with everything in him. To continue where Buhari dropped off. That he has faithfully adhered to. And pursuing to his best ability. That landed us violently where we are today. And the blood spilling dreaded by Jonathan. Gains momentum every second.

The reason the defenceless, the hapless are the most hit. They’re at the receiving end all the time. They are in their large numbers. In millions in their homes. In the remotest corners, deep in the forests and bushes.

The innocent blood Jonathan dared not spill. Now flows ceaselessly, seamlessly in villages, towns. All over the land. Nowhere. No part is spared. No maginalisation. All equally yoked together.  

Also Read: Why Atiku Turned Against Jonathan in 2015: Insider Reveals Untold Political Rift

Terrorists, bandits, killers happen to them on daily basis. In differed forms, shapes, modes and intensity. They are ignored, abandoned and ceded. In some classical instances in the North. They were negotiated, traded off. Sold into slavery and bondage outright. And in the public glare. Without mincing, mixing or missing words.

It honestly beats my naïve imagination hollow! Are our rulers this wicked and daring? Brazenly running after 2027 with bated breath. They insist with striking finality. Their queer lives hang wholly on 2027. That’s where their ill-gotten treasures are.

They dread life after 2027 without power!