Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan GCFR GCON was born on November 20, 1957 in Ogbia. He is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015.

He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and was the first incumbent president in Nigerian history to concede defeat in an election and therefore allow for a peaceful transition of power.

Jonathan served as the vice president of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010 under the administration of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua; and in oil-rich Bayelsa State as governor from 2005 to 2007, and deputy governor from 1999 to 2005.

He attended a Christian primary and secondary school. He received a bachelor's degree in zoology (second-class honours), a master's degree in hydrobiology and fisheries biology; and a doctorate in zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. During his time in the university, he taught at Rivers State College of Education from 1983 to 1993.

On May 29, 1999, Jonathan was sworn in as deputy governor of Bayelsa alongside Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who came in as the governor of the state on the platform of PDP. Jonathan served as Deputy Governor until December 2005.

Jonathan was named Acting President of Nigeria on February 9, 2010, following a controversial doctrine of necessity from the Senate of Nigeria due to President Yar'Adua's trip to Saudi Arabia in November 2009 for medical treatment. On 10 February 2010, his first day as acting president, Jonathan announced a minor cabinet reshuffle.

In accordance with the order of succession in the Nigerian constitution, following President Yar'Adua's death on May 5, 2010, Jonathan, as Acting President, was sworn in as the substantive president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 6, 2010.

A year later, on May 29, 2011, he was sworn in as the President of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, becoming Nigeria's 14th Head of State. He gave his inauguration address where he declared his government was to focus on a Transformation Agenda and promised to continue implementing the seven-point agenda policy framework of President Yar'Adua.

Since leaving office, Jonathan has continued to defend his administration. In 2019, he was appointed as the honorary special advisor to the Bayelsa Education Trust Fund board. In June 2019, Goodluck Jonathan was named chairperson of the newly inaugurated International Summit Council for Peace.

In July 2020, Jonathan was appointed special envoy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to lead mediation talks during the 2020 Malian protests.

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