10 FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is Nigeria's 14th head of state and
current president, but that's all common knowledge. It's also common
knowledge that he originally came into office after the former
president fell ill. Here are some lesser-known things worth learning
about.

1. Jonathan was born to a family of canoe makersJonathan was born in
what is now Bayelsa State to a family of canoe makers. In the oil-rich
Niger Delta region, this was a somewhat unusual occupation, and
Goodluck made the even more rare decision not to follow in his
parents' footsteps.

2. His middle name means "God's wish"Jonathan's middle name, Ebele,
means "God's wish," suggesting his parents had pretty high
expectations for him from the get-go. I mean, if your name is Goodluck
God's wish, you've got some high hopes to live up to, right?

3. He has a Ph.D in ZoologyWhich might be a bit of an oddity for a
sitting head of state. But Jonathan began with a bachelor's degree in
zoology, and followed up with an master's in hydrobiology and
fisheries biology and a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Port
Harcourt.
Who knows, maybe the Nigerian presidential office has a ton a pets!

4. He worked as an environmental protection officer before taking
officeAmong other things. Before entering into the political arena in
1998, Jonathan worked as an education inspector, a lecturer, and more
memorably as an environmental protection officer. It was in this
latter capacity that he stepped into the public light, serving as a
watch dog on many corporations in the country.

5. Jonathan seems to have a penchant for being in the right place at
the right timeIt's common knowledge that he assumed the presidency
following then-President Olusegun Obansajo's illness, but that wasn't
the first time he had to lead. In 1999, he was deputy governor for his
home state of Bayelsa when the governor was impeached on corruption
charges. Jonathan moved into the open position, beginning his more
illustrious political career.

6. His fedora is one of his more memorable signature featuresThe
fedora has character, but a former U.S. ambassador made the
unfortunate comment that Jonathan lacked charisma and possessed an
"underwhelming personality," a slip of the tongue uncovered in the
WikiLeaks scandal.

7. As vice president, he kept a low profile but was instrumental in
several key momentsOne of Jonathan's niche roles was as a negotiator
with his fellow Ijaws. He managed to help forge an agreement with
militant groups in the Niger Delta to stop a rash of violence and
encouraged them to lay down their weapons in exchange for amnesty, a
move celebrated both by his administration and by citizens country
wide.

8. Jonathan tried to ban the Nigerian national soccer team after a
poor showing at the 2010 World CupAfter the Nigerian soccer team
didn't progress past the group stage at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa, Jonathan tried to implement a two-year ban on the team's
participation in international competition. He later backtracked due
to pressure from FIFA, but it was pretty clear he wasn't pleased with
the performance.

9. Jonathan became the first sitting Nigerian president to have his
own Facebook pageJonathan launched his Facebook page in June 2010 to
help better interact with the Nigerian people. He used it as a
platform to announce his run for office in 2011, which would represent
his first actual run for political election.

10. His wife has been investigated on money laundering
allegationsThough she was never found guilty or convicted of any
wrongdoing, Jonathan's wife, Patience, was investigated by an
anti-corruption committee in 2006. It was alleged she had tried to
launder more than $13 million, but the evidence wasn't strong enough
for a conviction.