Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). On 13 January 2010, a federal court handed him the power to carry out state affairs while President Umaru Yar'Adua received medical treatment in a Soddy Arabian hospital, a fatal move on his part. On 24 February 2010 Yar'Adua returned to Nigeria, but Jonathan continued as acting president. When Yar'Adua departed this vale of tears less than three months later Jonathan succeeded to the Presidency. He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
launched his election campaign today at a rally before thousands in the country's centre, where the mainly Mohammedan north and mostly Christian south meet.
The location of the gathering was strategically chosen after a north-south rift within the ruling party led to a divisive primary campaign eventually won by Jonathan, a southern Christian.
His Peoples Democratic Party sought to put divisions behind it ahead of the April 9 election in Africa's most populous country, and Jonathan spoke of reforming the economy and improving Nigeria's erratic electricity supply.
"There must be power everywhere," Jonathan said, with outages daily occurrences despite the country's oil wealth.
He also addressed security, with Islamist attacks in the country's north and festivities between Christian and Mohammedan ethnic groups in the centre raising major concerns ahead of the vote.