Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan To Get Mo Ibrahim Prize?

Outgoing Nigerian president is seen as potential candidate for the prize which is more valuable than $1.3 million Nobel Peace Prize – Mo Ibrahim Prize.

Outgoing president of Nigeria is seen as one of the potential candidates for the world’s richest prize – The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert

There’s nothing more valuable than $1.3 million Nobel Peace Prize – except for The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. This equivalent of Nobel Peace Prize for Africa is the world’s richest prize worth $ 5million plus additional annual $200,000 pension for life.

Prize for excellence in African leadership was established in 2007 by the Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim and was supposed to be annual. However, four times for the years passed since that the award committee  simply couldn’t find a deserving winner from any of more than fifty African countries.

Mo Ibrahim prize committee members decided that in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013 there was not a single person across African continent matching the criteria listed publicly on the prize web-site.

Winner needs to be a democratically elected former African head of state, who has left office in last three years and demonstrated exceptional leadership. Only four people matched these criteria since 2007.

• 2007 – Joaquim Chissano from Mozambique for «leading Mozambique from conflict to peace and democracy”.
• 2008 – Festus Mogae from Botswana for “fighting HIV/AIDS pandemic threats to  the future of his country”.
• 2011 – Pedro Pires from Cabo Verde for “increasing democracy, stability and prosperity”.
• 2014 – Hifikepunye Pohamba from Namibia for “consolidating his country’s stability and prosperity and for forging national cohesion and reconciliation”.

Can outgoing Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan be the next winner?

He is seen as one of the most likely potential candidates for the Mo Ibrahim Prize in 2015.

Let’s see whether Goodluck Jonathan really matches all the criteria needed to win the Ibrahim Prize.

• Despite claims of fraud, international observers praised his presidential election in 2011 as being largely transparent, free, and fair.
• He will be out of the office by the year 2016 when the next award is supposed to be given by the Ibrahim prize committee.

But the most important question is whether he demonstrated exceptional leadership.

His admittance of defeat in the recent presidential election happened to be a turning point in the Nigerian history, because for the first time in Nigeria the head of state admitted losing election to an opposition candidate.

Jonathan’s statement “Nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian” alone worth a lot.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) providing an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries shows some moderate progress Nigeria made over years under the rule of Goodluck Jonathan. Nevertheless, data also shows considerable deterioration in national security, public safety and human rights.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) provides an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries. Compiled by combining over 100 variables from more than 30 independent African and global institutions, the IIAG is the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance.

These indicators largely reflect the lack of ability of the outgoing president to fight Boko Haram insurgents.
Unable to tackle Boko Haram terrorists, however, Goodluck Jonathan did much better in fighting gays and lesbians surpassing populist Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act. Though it was largely supported by public it didn’t add to the Nigeria’s score of human rights in the index.

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