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Goodluck Jonathan's quick concession statement after losing the Nigerian presidential election of
March 29 to challenger Muhammadu Buhari could mark a watershed moment for the country and
the entire African continent.
"As I have always affirmed, nobody's ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian. The unity, stability
and progress of our dear country is more important than anything else," Jonathan said, after
congratulating Buhari on his victory.
This could be the beginning of badly-needed political maturity in Nigeria.
What's been holding much of Africa from realizing the continent's full potential since decolonization
in the 1960s is political instability which promotes corruption, tyranny and upheavals. The political
and military elite contest for power, often through violent means; ordinary civilians bear the brunt of
the suffering.
The absence of regular transfer of power fuels political instability and conflict. Without the rule of
law, African countries lose out on potential investment capital from the outside world. They also lose
their most valuable assets; human capital, as the most talented Africans migrate to work overseas
often in the more developed economies of the West.
That's why even though many African countries are endowed with vast natural and mineral
resources (Congo alone for example has mineral resources, including diamonds, copper, gold, and
cobalt, valued at about $24 trillion), when measured by income per head, Africa remains the world's
poorest continent.
The same obstacles that bedevil many African countries have held back Nigeria.
The country has a population of about 170 million; it's Africa's most populous country. In addition to
being a top oil producer, it also has abundant arable land but sadly had abandoned agriculture to
focus mostly on oil exports; a victim of the so-called petroleum curse.
It also has millions of highly educated people.
And last year, for the first time, Nigeria's economy surpassed South Africa's as the continent's
largest one. Before the collapse of the price of oil, The Economist included Nigeria in the list of the
world's 20 fastest-growing economies.
There has been much to be bullish on about Nigeria. However, its politics has held its growth in
check. Since it won its independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has had more years under
military rule than under civilian administrations. Even the new president-elect, Buhari, was once a
military dictator between 1983 to 1985.
Still, the election, and the transition, if all goes smoothly, would be historic. It would be the first time
in Nigeria that a challenger has unseated an incumbent through the ballot box.
This is no small feat in a continent where typically an incumbent rigs the elections by simply
appointing the election commissioners who announce sham results.