Goodluck Jonathan

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a Nigerian politician who served as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. A zoologist by training, he rose through politics in Bayelsa State, becoming Deputy Governor in 1999 and Governor in 2005 after his predecessor's impeachment. In 2007 he was elected Vice President on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) ticket alongside Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

Jonathan became Acting President in February 2010 during Yar'Adua's prolonged illness and assumed the presidency in May 2010 following Yar'Adua's death. He won the 2011 presidential election in his own right. His tenure was marked by:

• Security crises, especially the escalating Boko Haram insurgency in northeastern Nigeria, including the April 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls that sparked the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
• Economic reforms, including a controversial partial removal of the fuel subsidy in January 2012, which triggered the Occupy Nigeria protests.
• Power sector privatization and a rebasing of Nigeria's GDP in 2014 that briefly made it Africa's largest economy.
• Electoral reform, including the strengthening of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under chair Attahiru Jega.

Jonathan is most widely remembered internationally for his conduct in the 2015 presidential election: he conceded defeat to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by telephone before final results were announced, marking the first time in Nigeria's history that an incumbent president lost a re-election bid and transferred power peacefully to an opposition candidate. The concession is frequently cited in democracy and governance literature as a benchmark for peaceful transitions in Africa.

Since leaving office, Jonathan has worked as an elections observer and mediator, including roles for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), notably as ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali following the 2020 and 2021 coups.