Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCFR, Grand Commander of The Order of The Federal Republic and President, Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was born to a humble Niger Delta family of canoe makers on November 20, 1957. Growing up in the warmth of a close knit family, Dr. Jonathan had humble yet adventurous beginnings. In spite of the enchanting beauty of the Niger Delta and the pristine innocence of those times, the young Jonathan rather than take after the family trade, chose to go to school.
He attended St. Stephens and St. Michaels Primary Schools, Oloibiri, finishing in 1969. He proceeded to Mater Dei High School, Imiringi, where he passed his West African School Certificate with flying colours in 1975.
On completion of his secondary education, he worked as a Preventive Officer with the Nigerian Customs Service for two years before proceeding to the University of Port Harcourt as one of the pioneer students of the new university nestling on the shores of the Choba River. He chose Zoology. As a child he had been fascinated with nature, and growing up by the shores of the intertwining rivers and waterways of the Niger Delta, aquatic life was second nature.
He graduated with Second Class Upper honours in 1981. In 1985 and 1995 he studied for his Master’s and Ph.D degrees in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology, and Zoology respectively, from the same University. But this was not until he had completed his mandatory one year of National Youth Service in Iresi, old Oyo State, now Osun State of Nigeria.
Returning to the warm embrace of family and friends in 1982, he was appointed as Science Inspector of Education, Rivers State Ministry of Education, while studying in between for his post-graduate and graduate degrees. Between 1983 and 1993 he took up employment as a lecturer in the Department of Biological Science, Rivers State College of Education.
In 1993, he was appointed Assistant Director (Ecology of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in charge of Environmental Protection. Working in a developmental environment, his desire to better of the lot of the people motivated him to answer the call to service. He resigned his job in 1998 and went into politics.
His honesty, simplicity, charisma, quiet strength and determination made him an ideal running mate to Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha on the Bayelsa People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) gubernatorial ticket. They won the elections, and he served as a Deputy Governor from 1999 to 11 December 2005. On 12 December that year, he became the substantive Governor of Bayelsa State.
It wasn’t long after that fate once again beckoned. He was busy preparing for re election to his first full term as substantive governor, when the PDP, which is the largest political party in Africa, nominated him as running mate to the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua. After a keenly contested election, the Yar’adua/Jonathan ticket won, and on May 29, 2007, he was inaugurated as Nigeria’s Vice President.
Precisely on February 9, 2010, Dr. Jonathan assumed office as Nigeria’s Acting President by virtue of a National Assembly resolution empowering him as Acting President, following President Yar’Adua’s long absence for medical attention in Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was sworn-in on May, 6, 2010 as President, Commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria following the passing away of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010.
Dr. Jonathan has received several local and international awards. He was voted the ‘Best performing Deputy Governor’ in 2002 by IPAN, given the ‘Democracy and Good Governance Award’ by Nigeria Union of Journalists in 2004. The Africa International News magazine league conferred on him the ‘Niger Delta Development Award’; the Nigerian Bar Association, the ‘Distinguished Personality’ award in 2006, and the All African Students Union in South Africa, the ‘Africa Leadership Award 2006’.
Additionally, the Nigerian Union of Teachers voted him the ‘Best Performing Governor in Education in the South-South’ in 2006. He was also recognized by the International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) in 22 July 2006, with ‘Ambassador for Peace Merit Award’ as well as the ‘Leadership and Good Governance Merit Award’.
Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is married to Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, and the union is blessed with children.
Showing posts with label Nigeria Elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigeria Elections. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Profile of Gen. MUHAMMADU BUHARI
Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) distinguished Nigerian, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GCFR), the Nigerian Armed Forces Services Star medallist, Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa, of the University of Calabar, Benue State University and Enugu State University, Doctor of Letters, University of Ilorin and Doctor of Science, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi. He is an accomplished soldier, a level-headed Statesman, a trustworthy administrator. He has served as Military Governor of the then North-Eastern State, Federal Minister of Petroleum Resources, and Pioneer Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and as Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
General Buhari was born on December 17, 1942, in the town of Daura in the former Katsina province of the then Northern Nigeria.He went to Primary School in Daura and Mai’adua from 1948 – 1952, before proceeding to Katsina middle School in 1953. He attended the Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College Katsina) from 1956 – 1961. On graduation from Secondary School in 1961, the young Buhari went to the Nigerian Military Training School, Kaduna in 1963.
In October of the same year, he was sent to the officers’ Cadet School in Aldershot in the United Kingdom and was thereafter commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1963 and posted to the 2nd Infantry Battalion, Abeokuta as Platoon Commander in 1963. A contemporary of his in Aldershot said he was like “an only pebble in the beach, a star in his calm and calculating disposition.”
It was at the Abeokuta Garrison that the real traits of a great soldier were identified in the young man. From 1963 – 1964 he was sent for further training on the Platoon Commanders’ Course at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna. In 1965, he went for the Mechanical Transport Officers’ Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, England. He went to the Defence Services’ Staff College, Wellington, India in 1973 and to the United States Army War College from June 1979 to June 1980.
Command and Staff appointments since 1963, including the following:
* Platoon Commander, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 1963 – 1964.
* Mechanical Transport Officer, Lagos Garrison, 1964 – 1965.
* Transport Company Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade 1965 – 1966;
* Battalion Adjutant / Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade 1966 – 1967;
* Brigade Major, 2nd Sector, 1st Infantry Division, April to July 1967;
* Brigade Major, 3rd Infantry Brigade, August 1967 – October 1968;
* Acting Commander, 4th Sector, 1st Division November 1968 – February 1970;
* Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, February 1970 – June 1971;
* Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Infantry Division Hqrs., July 1971 – Dec. 1972;
* Colonel, General Staff, 3rd Infantry Div. Hqrs. Jan. 1974 – Sept. 1974.
* Acting Director, Supply and Transport, Nigeria Army Corps of supply and Transport, September 1974 – July 1975;
* Military Governor, North Eastern State of Nigeria, August 1975 – March 1976;
* Federal Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, March 1976 to June 1978;
* Chairman, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, June 1978 – July 1978;
* Military Secretary, Army Headquarters July 1978 – June 1979;
* Member Supreme Military Council, March 1976 – June 1979;
* General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, Aug. 1980 – Jan. 1981;
* General Officer Commanding, 2nd Mechanised Infantry Division, Jan. 1981 – October 1981;
* General Officer Commanding 3rd Armed Division Nigerian Army, October 1981 – December 1983.
* Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, December 1983 – August 1985.
General Buhari was born on December 17, 1942, in the town of Daura in the former Katsina province of the then Northern Nigeria.He went to Primary School in Daura and Mai’adua from 1948 – 1952, before proceeding to Katsina middle School in 1953. He attended the Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College Katsina) from 1956 – 1961. On graduation from Secondary School in 1961, the young Buhari went to the Nigerian Military Training School, Kaduna in 1963.
In October of the same year, he was sent to the officers’ Cadet School in Aldershot in the United Kingdom and was thereafter commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1963 and posted to the 2nd Infantry Battalion, Abeokuta as Platoon Commander in 1963. A contemporary of his in Aldershot said he was like “an only pebble in the beach, a star in his calm and calculating disposition.”
It was at the Abeokuta Garrison that the real traits of a great soldier were identified in the young man. From 1963 – 1964 he was sent for further training on the Platoon Commanders’ Course at the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna. In 1965, he went for the Mechanical Transport Officers’ Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, England. He went to the Defence Services’ Staff College, Wellington, India in 1973 and to the United States Army War College from June 1979 to June 1980.
Command and Staff appointments since 1963, including the following:
* Platoon Commander, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 1963 – 1964.
* Mechanical Transport Officer, Lagos Garrison, 1964 – 1965.
* Transport Company Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade 1965 – 1966;
* Battalion Adjutant / Commander, 2nd Infantry Brigade 1966 – 1967;
* Brigade Major, 2nd Sector, 1st Infantry Division, April to July 1967;
* Brigade Major, 3rd Infantry Brigade, August 1967 – October 1968;
* Acting Commander, 4th Sector, 1st Division November 1968 – February 1970;
* Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, February 1970 – June 1971;
* Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Infantry Division Hqrs., July 1971 – Dec. 1972;
* Colonel, General Staff, 3rd Infantry Div. Hqrs. Jan. 1974 – Sept. 1974.
* Acting Director, Supply and Transport, Nigeria Army Corps of supply and Transport, September 1974 – July 1975;
* Military Governor, North Eastern State of Nigeria, August 1975 – March 1976;
* Federal Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, March 1976 to June 1978;
* Chairman, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, June 1978 – July 1978;
* Military Secretary, Army Headquarters July 1978 – June 1979;
* Member Supreme Military Council, March 1976 – June 1979;
* General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division, Aug. 1980 – Jan. 1981;
* General Officer Commanding, 2nd Mechanised Infantry Division, Jan. 1981 – October 1981;
* General Officer Commanding 3rd Armed Division Nigerian Army, October 1981 – December 1983.
* Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, December 1983 – August 1985.
Profile of NUHU AHMED RIBADU
Nuhu Ribadu was born November 21, 1960. He graduated from the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar in 1984, before joining the Nigeria Police, where he rose to become head of the Legal and Prosecution department, Police Headquarters, Abuja. His 18-year service in the Nigeria Police culminated in his appointment as pioneer Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in April, 2003.
Prior to his appointment as the Chairman of EFCC, Ribadu served as key operational officer in the General Investigation Department and the Force Criminal Investigation Department of the of the Nigerian Police. He was also a member of the highly commended Failed Banks Tribunal that sanitized the rottenness in the Nigerian Banking sector of the late eighties. He helped pioneer the setting up of the Legal and Prosecutions Department of the Nigerian Police, a unit that served as think tank and policy nerve center of the police.
Ribadu has been a recipient of several awards as a police officer, prosecutor and Chairman, EFCC. He received the Inspector General of Police Awards in 1997, 1998 and 2000 and the Special Commendation of Mr. President in 2005, for the successful prosecution of several advance fee fraud, banking fraud and sundry economic crime cases. He was also specially commended by the Accountant General of the Federation for successfully prosecuting some corrupt public servants in 1999.
He was a key member of the Economic Management Team from 2003 to 2008 that initiated and drove the wide ranging public sector reforms, which laid the foundations for the socio-economic rejuvenation of Nigeria. Along side this responsibility, he also served as a member of the Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, the National Joint Intelligence Board, the National Committee on Public Service Reforms and the National Cybercrime Working Group.
Ribadu has been widely acknowledged as bringing to his job a deep passion and an exemplary sense of dedication and efficiency. In three years, the EFCC under his leadership built the now most celebrated Crimes Training and Research Institute in the sub-region. The agency also recorded about 200 criminal convictions, a record that is far ahead of the total record of the police in its 147 years of existence, and far ahead of the Attorney-General’s office in the 49 years of the country’s post-colonial history.
These achievements helped make the EFCC a reference Law Enforcement Agency on the continent; and the bold investigation, prosecution, and conviction of Nigeria’s hitherto untouchable politicians and businessmen earned him the reputation of being a foremost and respected anti-corruption crusader in the world. It is to his record that he rejected a N30 million bribe from one of the country’s major money laundering offenders in 2005, although the most sensational report of his ethical conduct thus far was the 2007 rejection of a $15 million bribe from a former governor from one of Nigeria’s Niger Delta states. The businessman has been convicted for the crime and the former governor is currently undergoing trial.
In acknowledgement of these modest achievements, he was promoted Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), in March 2007; the African Union put him on its advisory board on anti-corruption matters; and he was lately invited to join the advisory board of the friends of the World Bank/UNODC initiative on stolen asset recovery.
Recognizing the increasing trans-border dimension of financial and economic crimes, Ribadu, a regular attendee at the annual INTERPOL retreats, led an enforcement initiative that led to the founding of the West African Conference of Police Chiefs, and which is today a strong mechanism in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in West Africa today.
Mr. Ribadu holds an LLM degree with emphasis on the jurisprudence of corruption in Nigeria from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. In 2008, he was at the Harvard Business School where he did a program in the strategic management of law enforcement agencies.
Since 2004, notable newspapers and magazines in Nigeria have repeatedly voted Ribadu, Man of the Year, in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a committed crusader against corruption and other related crimes.
Ribadu’s modest achievements in EFCC, most notable amongst which are the delisting of Nigeria from the FATF List of Non-Cooperative Countries & Territories, admission into the prestigious Egmont Group and the withdrawal of the US Treasury advisory on Nigeria by the FINCEN. He has also attracted donor support from European Union (EU), UNODC, UNDP, World Bank, and a host of others running into millions of US dollars, and also built an effective collaborative effort with the FBI, SOCA [UK], Metropolitan Police [UK], Dutch Police, German Police, South African Police and a host of other Law Enforcement Agencies in the world.
In 2008, Mr. Ribadu completed the senior executive course of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies where he was conferred with the Membership of the National Institute, MNI.
In June 2010, Mr. Ribadu was awarded the Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Babcock University, Ogun State, in recognition of his “loyal breeding”, “lofty aim” and “resolute courage” as well as his “fierce stance against corruption in the face of sponsored disgrace and certain death that has resulted into positive changes and global acclaim hitherto considered impossible”.
Until recently, Mr. Ribadu was a senior fellow at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University, as well as a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, Washington, DC.
Prior to his appointment as the Chairman of EFCC, Ribadu served as key operational officer in the General Investigation Department and the Force Criminal Investigation Department of the of the Nigerian Police. He was also a member of the highly commended Failed Banks Tribunal that sanitized the rottenness in the Nigerian Banking sector of the late eighties. He helped pioneer the setting up of the Legal and Prosecutions Department of the Nigerian Police, a unit that served as think tank and policy nerve center of the police.
Ribadu has been a recipient of several awards as a police officer, prosecutor and Chairman, EFCC. He received the Inspector General of Police Awards in 1997, 1998 and 2000 and the Special Commendation of Mr. President in 2005, for the successful prosecution of several advance fee fraud, banking fraud and sundry economic crime cases. He was also specially commended by the Accountant General of the Federation for successfully prosecuting some corrupt public servants in 1999.
He was a key member of the Economic Management Team from 2003 to 2008 that initiated and drove the wide ranging public sector reforms, which laid the foundations for the socio-economic rejuvenation of Nigeria. Along side this responsibility, he also served as a member of the Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, the National Joint Intelligence Board, the National Committee on Public Service Reforms and the National Cybercrime Working Group.
Ribadu has been widely acknowledged as bringing to his job a deep passion and an exemplary sense of dedication and efficiency. In three years, the EFCC under his leadership built the now most celebrated Crimes Training and Research Institute in the sub-region. The agency also recorded about 200 criminal convictions, a record that is far ahead of the total record of the police in its 147 years of existence, and far ahead of the Attorney-General’s office in the 49 years of the country’s post-colonial history.
These achievements helped make the EFCC a reference Law Enforcement Agency on the continent; and the bold investigation, prosecution, and conviction of Nigeria’s hitherto untouchable politicians and businessmen earned him the reputation of being a foremost and respected anti-corruption crusader in the world. It is to his record that he rejected a N30 million bribe from one of the country’s major money laundering offenders in 2005, although the most sensational report of his ethical conduct thus far was the 2007 rejection of a $15 million bribe from a former governor from one of Nigeria’s Niger Delta states. The businessman has been convicted for the crime and the former governor is currently undergoing trial.
In acknowledgement of these modest achievements, he was promoted Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), in March 2007; the African Union put him on its advisory board on anti-corruption matters; and he was lately invited to join the advisory board of the friends of the World Bank/UNODC initiative on stolen asset recovery.
Recognizing the increasing trans-border dimension of financial and economic crimes, Ribadu, a regular attendee at the annual INTERPOL retreats, led an enforcement initiative that led to the founding of the West African Conference of Police Chiefs, and which is today a strong mechanism in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in West Africa today.
Mr. Ribadu holds an LLM degree with emphasis on the jurisprudence of corruption in Nigeria from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. In 2008, he was at the Harvard Business School where he did a program in the strategic management of law enforcement agencies.
Since 2004, notable newspapers and magazines in Nigeria have repeatedly voted Ribadu, Man of the Year, in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a committed crusader against corruption and other related crimes.
Ribadu’s modest achievements in EFCC, most notable amongst which are the delisting of Nigeria from the FATF List of Non-Cooperative Countries & Territories, admission into the prestigious Egmont Group and the withdrawal of the US Treasury advisory on Nigeria by the FINCEN. He has also attracted donor support from European Union (EU), UNODC, UNDP, World Bank, and a host of others running into millions of US dollars, and also built an effective collaborative effort with the FBI, SOCA [UK], Metropolitan Police [UK], Dutch Police, German Police, South African Police and a host of other Law Enforcement Agencies in the world.
In 2008, Mr. Ribadu completed the senior executive course of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies where he was conferred with the Membership of the National Institute, MNI.
In June 2010, Mr. Ribadu was awarded the Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Babcock University, Ogun State, in recognition of his “loyal breeding”, “lofty aim” and “resolute courage” as well as his “fierce stance against corruption in the face of sponsored disgrace and certain death that has resulted into positive changes and global acclaim hitherto considered impossible”.
Until recently, Mr. Ribadu was a senior fellow at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University, as well as a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, Washington, DC.
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