As the first incumbent Nigerian president to lose reelection, former President Goodluck Jonathan has talked candidly about his feelings.

The 2015 general elections were the most difficult time in the former president’s political career. He campaigned as the candidate of the then-governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but lost to former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The management of Daar Communications, in partnership with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, hosted the 1st Raymond Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture in Abuja on Friday, where Jonathan gave a speech.

With 12,853,162 million votes, Jonathan, who campaigned on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform, came in second to Major General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who received 15,424,921 million votes and won the election.

A calm Jonathan said that he had unexplained emotional upheaval. He talked about feeling left behind.

The former president remembered how Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, the late chairman of Darr Communications, supported him during his experience in a fatherly manner.

“Losing an election as president is not easy,” Jonathan stated. You’ll believe that everyone is against you. However, before I turned over, Dokpesi invited me. His words to me after I lost the election still stick in my memory.

Senior Nigerians, or older statesmen, spoke in large numbers. He complimented me and urged me to see past the election after I listened to all of the talks. I remembered the session in this way.

That conversation gave me hope and aided me in my spiritual life as a private citizen as well as in the transitional period that lay ahead of me. I go into further detail about it in my book, My Transition Hours.

Idris Mohammed, the Minister of Information, praised the late Dokpesi earlier in his statement and urged Nigerians to value the freedom of speech they already have.

Mohammed declared, “Even though we continue to call for responsibility in the exercise of this freedom, our respect for it is untouchable.” Nigerians are allowed to talk freely about their beloved nation.

We can and will keep avoiding the situation when careless negativity turns into a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy.

If we decide to exclusively concentrate on what is not working and not give the things we are doing well the same amount of attention, we will be making a grave mistake both personally and as a group. And despite our current situation, we are doing a lot of things correctly as a country.

As the guardians and influencers of public opinion, the media may play a significant role in bolstering this balanced approach via your reporting. He said, “The late Dokpesì has fulfilled his role, and he done it in a way that will live on in memory forever.

At the age of 71, Dokpesi passed away on May 29, 2023.

The late Chief Executive became unwell a few weeks before to his death, according to Tony Akiotu, Group Managing Director of DAAR Communications. He also verified that Dokpesi died on the morning of his death after falling off his treadmill while performing a usual workout in his gym.

The gathering was attended by the late media mogul’s friends, family, and coworkers.