famous Nigerians who embarked on a journey from Abuja to
Otuoke, the hometown of President Goodluck Jonathan in
appreciation of his statesmanship and service to the country. Their
trek dubbed ‘the first Twitter Reality Show’ attracted
commendations from majority of Nigerians. In this online interview,
Abiodun Alade engaged the triumphant triumvirate on the journey
to Otuoke.
Profile
OLADELE JOHN NIHI
My name is Oladele John Nihi, from Aiyegunle Gbede, Ijumu LGA of
Kogi State. I live and work in Abuja.
I obtained my B.Sc Political Science from Kogi State University,
Anyigba and almost through with my M.Sc Peace Studies & Conflict
Resolution at National Open University of Nigeria. Happily married
and blessed with a son.
My wife initiated the idea to trek for Jonathan and according to her,
if there is anyone to trek for it should be Jonathan “who didn’t
allow his ambition to cause many Nigerians to be trekking in search
of safety as a result of political tussle”.
Moreso, the peace we enjoy today is as a result of his conceding
defeat proving wrong the doom sayers who predicted many negative
things about Nigeria before the election
GLORIA NWEKE
My name is Gloria Nweke, a native of Awka in Anambra State and a
graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University. I chose to trek in honour of
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan because I wanted to draw the
attention of the world to a man we regard as our democratic hero
who in every sense of the word deserves to be celebrated. I wanted
the world to know how much we appreciated what he did for us by
not allowing his ambition to cause the blood of any Nigerian or
disintegration of Nigeria. I also trekked to celebrate the peace and
unity we enjoy in Nigeria today.
IFEY CHUKWUNEKU
My name is Ifey Jennifer Chukuneku. I’m from Delta State. A
Chartered Accountant and a business woman. President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan in his magnanimity showed great bravery and
heroism during the last general elections being that not only did he
conduct an election that has been adjudged by the world as the
freest and fairest election Nigeria has ever conducted, but also the
manner at which he received the outcome.
The Journey to Otuoke
OLADELE JOHN NIHI
The experiences are of two opposing sides which are positive and
negative.
Some of the positive sides are the reception, acceptance,
encouragement, love and prayers of Nigerians home and abroad
that I got on the way which serves as moral booster.
Worthy of note again is the way I was accommodated and fed by
people I never knew or someone I don’t share the same faith with.
The negative side are the health challenges I faced such as
headache, cold, chest pain and general body pain
GLORIA NWEKE
I had the opportunity to experience and explore some of Nigerian
unique dishes like banger and starch, bushmeat, native soup,
fisherman soup etc. It was indeed a wonderful experience. But on
the low, I had severe body pain. My joints were hurting, I also
started having blisters on my legs, ultimately, it wasn’t an easy
task.
IFEY CHUKWUNEKU
Well I wouldn’t say there have been any negative experiences so far,
except for the injuries on my legs, having to walk on a lonely bushy
road with heavy trucks on it at all time for many hours. Other than
that, it was an amazing journey
Expectations from Jonathan and Buhari
We really don’t have any expectation from Dr. Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan as regards our trek to honour him. All we wanted was just
to celebrate and appreciate him and that we’ve done.
Generally, our expectation will be for him to continue to be agent of
peace in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large, especially now that
the world sees him as a Hero who sustained and strengthen Nigeria
peace.
As for Gen. M. Buhari, our expectation from him is simple. Let him
deliver on his campaign promises to the good people of Nigeria. We
would like him to further consolidate the democratic legacy that the
Jonathan administration started or foundation he laid and that he
should imitate Jonathan’s peaceful nature.
Reception
We were welcomed with love every where we got to all through this
journey and it was really refreshing seeing that we still got such
warm hearts in our land. We got love, gifts, calls, prayers and so on
from people we never knew. They were always there for us.
One major highlight of this journey so far is, seeing how united and
caring Nigerians are towards one another despite our different
values, religion, ethnicity and political parties.
We had a grand entrance into Otuoke, hometown of Dr. Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan as we were received and cheered into the
community by a large crowd of people, old, young, small, big, etc.
Different groups such as Strategic Alliance, the CDC of the
community, armies, group of drummers, everyone was out to cheer
the three of us.
Earlier before we entered Otuoke, we were officially received into the
State by the governor, Seriake Dickson who was represented by his
Commissioner of Youths &Sports and Commissioner of Information
at the government house. It was indeed great
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