FORMER President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, said his administration did not implement the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference because of the political turbulence at the time.
Speaking during a condolence visit to the family of the late Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, in Lagos, Jonathan stressed that the political situation in Nigeria at the time was too turbulent to accommodate presentation of the recommendations, more so as it would not have come up without the contributions of people such as the late Adebanjo.
Adebanjo died on February 14, this year, in Lagos, at the age of 96 years.
Jonathan recalled that a number of people kept asking why he did not implement the recommendations of the conference, adding that most Nigerians do not know that there was a lot of political turbulence in the country at that period.
He stated that while a key legislator from his party mobilised against him and eventually moved to another party, some other persons were ready to bring his administration down at that time, adding: “It was not the time we could present such a document.
“Thank God for everything. We believe that one day, one government will review it and take everything.”
He said the recommendations came from credible Nigerians who were not politically influenced, noting: “We believe the outcomes are still very relevant for our society.”
The former President described Adebanjo as a Nigerian leader, not just an Afenifere leader, saying: “Our dear leader was not the leader of Afenifere alone. He was a leader of this country. He was a man with enormous wisdom, courage and willingness to do the right thing for this country.
“He believed in truth and justice. No nation can grow when there is no truth and when there is no justice.”
Jonathan, accompanied by Sierra Leone’s former President, Mr. Ernest Bai Koroma; former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deputy national chairman, Chief Olabode George, and other political stalwarts, was received by the children of the late elder statesman, led by Obafemi Ayo-Adebanjo, and members of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, led by Oba Oladipo Olaitan, at Adebanjo’s Lekki, Lagos, residence.
