Nigerian elders demand "decisive" action from new leader
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Nigeria's new Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is pictured as he takes office in Abuja, 10 Feb 2010
ABUJA — A group of eminent Nigerians, including three former heads of state, met Acting President Goodluck Jonathan Friday and asked him to take "decisive" action on a host of problems, their spokesman said.
The elders visited the new helmsman "to say to him to be focused, courageous, decisive, firm, but fair, honest and just," Jerry Gana, a former information minister, told journalists after the meeting.
At the meeting, the group, led by former military leader General Yakubu Gowon, listed good governance, free and credible elections in 2011, reliable power supply, good infrastructure, unemployment, peace and security as priority programmes for Jonathan's government, said Gana.
"People really want to see action and results on the ground," he stated.
"They want this administration to do everything humanly possible to ensure that elections in Nigeria are free and fair so that we can have legitimately-elected government in the coming election," said Gana, a former information minister.
Presidential elections are due in April 2011 in a country which has a history of flawed polls.