Discours de Monsieur Jürg Stäubli
Cercle Diplomatique de Genève 27.1.2016
Dear Mr. President
Honourable Ministers
Your Excellencies the Ambassadors
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear Friends,
I am very happy to welcome you here in Geneva
Mr. President Jonathan
You are born on the 20th of November 1957.
This is exactly one week…. after me.
You got a PhD in zoology and a master of sciences.
You were later responsible for the protection of the environment.
You entered politics at 1998.
You became Governor of the State of Bayelsa at December 2005 and Vice-President of the country in April 2007.
From May 6th 2010 until May 29th 2015, you were more than 5 years head of the very important Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Nigeria had in 2014 a population of more than 181 Million people with an average age of 18,2 years.
This is a considerable asset for the future.
You let at your successor a public debt of 11,7%
of the GDP and an economic growth of 7%.
End of 2014 Nigeria was the first economic power on the African continent in front of Republic South-Africa,
with a gross domestic product of 574 billion U$.
This represents the 26th position worldwide.
These are very impressive figures.
One of your first goals was to reform the energy sector.
You launched the plan “Youth Enterprise with Innovation”
This initiative creates for young people aged between 18 and 35 years about 50 thousand new jobs.
But your merits are not only economic.
You make great achievements as a Democrat too.
On the occasion at one of your speeches you have declared:
Today in Africa the democracy and good governance are accepted as a political, economic and social necessity.
The principles must be:
- The constitutionalism
- The rules of law
- The protection of human rights
- Responsibility an transparency in the management of politic affairs
- A broad popular participation in political processes
- The Government’s ability to manage the socioeconomic development and to ensure good governance
You have concluded your speech with the words:
That all elections held on our continent must be free, fair and credible.
The principle of: one man one vote, one woman one vote must be respected.
Mr. President you have kept your word.
You asked your supporters to accept the result.
You said:
The ambition of anyone does not justify that flows the blood of a Nigerian.
With your respectful acknowledging the defeat you broke the thread of the usual post-electoral violence.
It is a calm Nigeria coming to accept the democratic alternation and leaders fair-play policy.
It is a Nigeria which began to write a new page in his history of democracy with new values and new principles.
The historic act from Mister Goodluck Jonathan,
who has accepted the defeat with fair-play,
teaches over the African continent a great lesson of democracy.
We all say to you:
THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT