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Report: Nigeria

Nigerian presidential election - Jonathan faces friends and foes in home state

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has a solid base of support in his home state, largely thanks to ethnic loyalty and the benefits brought by a new university. But that doesn't mean he has no foes there or that he can take the ijaw people for granted if he is reelected.

Otuoke is President Goodluck Jonathan's hometown where he receives unwavering support.
Otuoke is President Goodluck Jonathan's hometown where he receives unwavering support. RFI/ Rosie Collyer
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The road to Otuoke is littered with potholes punctuated with strips of unfinished highway. But the number of building construction projects is visibly higher here than in neighbouring towns.

This is in part due to the university that was established during the first year of President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency in 2011.

Samuel Ebie returned to Nigeria after 11 years in Britain to run Otuoke University's Entrepreneur and Skills Development Unit.
Samuel Ebie returned to Nigeria after 11 years in Britain to run Otuoke University's Entrepreneur and Skills Development Unit. RFI/Rosie Collyer

For Samuel Ebie, who runs the university's Entrepreneur and Skills Development Unit, Jonathan inspired a life-changing decision to return to Nigeria after more than a decade in Britain.

“He was one of the very few [presidents] who was actually looking forward to people in the diaspora to return home and help build…so I came back to Nigeria to play my part,” he says.

The aim of the Entrepreneur and Skills Development Unit is to train young people to acquire a trade.

Since its inception earlier this year 93 people have received training. But that is a drop in the ocean compared to the thousands of youths in this region who just five years ago belonged to armed groups fighting for fairer allocation of the country’s oil wealth. 

An amnesty programme started in 2009 and including monthly stipend for ex-combatants has bought peace until now. Whether peace can last if Jonathan looses the election remains to be seen.

The majority of young people in Otuoke cannot afford university fees, so many drive motorcycle taxis and earn less than two euros a day.
The majority of young people in Otuoke cannot afford university fees, so many drive motorcycle taxis and earn less than two euros a day. RFI/Rosie Collyer

The young people in Otuoke who are unable to pay to go to university struggle to find jobs.

The mainstay of these youngsters is driving a motorcycle taxi, which earns them less than two dollars a day.

Opposition politician Tonye Okio, who grew up in the town next to Otuoke, spent three months in prison after being accused of defamation for posting criticism of Jonathan on Facebook in 2013.

“I will continue with my stance until there is development in Nigeria," he says. "For goodness sake, we are rich enough to be properly developed but our leaders steal the money everyday.”

Most people in Bayelsa state, where Otuoke is situated, are proud of Jonathan, the first person from the ijaw ethnic group to become president. He is likely to win their vote but with even higher expectations for development and jobs.

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