“I called him Goodluck because although life was hard for me when he was born, I had this feeling that this boy would bring me good luck,” his late father Lawrence Jonathan was quoted as saying in a recent biography of the president.
His mother Eunice said although she had a history of lengthy labour in childbirth stretching for several days, Goodluck was born in record time – the very day she went into labour.
But the plot thickens. The 53-year-old leader has benefited from a series of events that have advanced his career by default.
He became governor of his native Bayelsa state in 2005. He had been deputy governor and took over the office after his predecessor was impeached on money laundering charges.
A couple years later, he was selected to run as vice president under Umaru Yar’Adua, a northerner who needed to balance his ticket.
Yar’Adua dies in office after months of illness, and Jonathan is sworn in to replace him.
And then April 2011: The power of incumbency behind him, Jonathan easily wins the presidential election.
