Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has decided not to contest to occupy the soon to be vacant office of the United Nations Secretary General. The office is currently occupied by António Guterres of Portugal, who is serving out his second term, having assumed office on Jan 1, 2017.
Dr. Jonathan’s candidacy was vigorously canvassed by different individuals and groups, most especially by the African Policy and Research Consortium (APRC), and all the supporters of his candidature advanced his statesmanship in political office, both as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, as Vice President, and later President of Nigeria.
Among others, they pointed to the unprecedented pro-democracy example he set when, as a sitting President, he called his then political opponent to congratulate him on his victory, even before the final ballot was counted, and even when there were grounds for him to have contested the conduct and result of the election.
His supporters also pointed to the remarkable efforts he has been making since leaving office as President to advance democracy, good governance and peace, especially in West Africa, where he has led several election monitoring groups and peace-making delegations to different countries in the region.
He has used as vehicle for this effort, the West African Elder’s Forum, an initiative of his Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), established in 2021 to serve as a home-grown and non-partisan platform of past heads of state and government in the sub-region, to provide advisory, mediation and conflict resolution support services to the political leaders in West Africa.
Marketable as his candidacy was considered to be, however, President Jonathan, according to the Co-Chairman of APRC, Professor Mondy Gold, has conveyed his decision not to seek consideration for the UN Secretary General position, which would become vacant on December 31, 2026, when Guterres’ tenure ends.
The UN Security Council has already started the formal process for the selection of Guterres’ successor, which involves presentation of candidates by countries, Security Council deliberations on, and selection of the preferred candidate, before the General Assembly’s appointment of the next Secretary General, who would resume on January 1, 2027.
So far, only two Africans have been Secretary General of the world body – Boutros Boutros‑Ghali of Egypt, who served from January 1, 1992, to December 31, 1996, and Kofi Annan of Ghana who was in that office from January 1, 1997, to December 31, 2006.
Meanwhile, there has, for a while now, been agitation for a woman to be given the opportunity to serve as the chief administrative officer of the global organization that was founded in 1945, and there are speculations that the searchlight might be directed in that direction.
