President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Nigerians will appreciate his administration after he leaves office when compared with his predecessors, adding that he did not expect to receive praises while he was still in office.
He made the assertion on Tuesday, December 30, 2014 while receiving a delegation from his native Bayelsa St ate led by the Governor, Seriake Dickson.
President Jonathan said that he will do his best to make his people proud regardless of the challenges facing the country.
He said: “I always say that I will not even expect praises now because hardly do people praise serving leaders, it is when you leave. When you leave, people will begin to compare what you have done over the period with what others have done.Probably that is the time some people will begin to say good things about you. But I will do my best to make sure that we do change things. We are trying to create an enabling environment for our economy to thrive irrespective of the challenges we are having in the petroleum sector and the security challenges we have.
“I will do my best so that by the time I will leave, you will be able to say that when our son was there, he served the country well so that one day, another son of Bayelsa may be given another opportunity to serve Nigerians.”
President Jonathan continued: “These days, there are all kind of stories. It is all over the world, leaders are being lambasted, especially with the social media now. People use what knowledge had created for negative reasons. Just as I was told that the person who invented the dynamite regretted that invention because he thought he was coming up with something to solve human problem, but when he got to know about the level of destruction: human lives that are being blown up because of explosion, the man regretted that invention.”
The President restated his claim that 2015 would be a challenging year as a result of the elections coming early in the year.
He said: “The new year is full of challenges for Nigerians because of the early elections. Everywhere will be hot from January 2.”
On his part, Governor Dickson said the people of Bayelsa State were proud of the President’s service to Nigeria, adding that that they were in solidarity with President Jonathan in action and prayers.
He said: “We are proud of your service. We are here to show solidarity and to let everybody know that your people are always with you in deed and in prayers. It is in the spirit of Christmas that we are here on behalf of the people of the state to wish you, your family and government compliments of the season and wish you victorious 2015.
“We bring you prayers and message of solidarity. We thank all Nigerians for the support and prayers they have been giving you. We are proud of the service you are giving to our country and we appreciate your transformation agenda.”
