How Kenneth Kaunda prophesied my emergence as president – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed how late Kenneth Kaunda in 2006 prophesied his emergence as Nigeria president.

Jonathan gave the revelation in a speech he delivered at the 2nd Kenneth Kaunda Memorial Public Lecture on Saturday in Pretoria, South Africa.

It is titled ‘Kenneth Kaunda’s Lessons For Humanity’.

Kaunda, who was the first President of Zambia who served from 1964 to 1991, also known as KK, died on June 17, 2021.

Jonathan said this in the statement made available to journalists on Sunday in Abuja.

He said though he was then Governor of Bayelsa State, he never had the dream of becoming Nigerian president at that time.

He recalled that during his time as Bayelsa Governor in 2006, he invited Kaunda to the state because of their shared interest in the protection of their people against HIV/AIDS.

He recalled with relish the impressive pace displayed by Kaunda, then aged 82 years, at the symbolic Three Arms Walk for HIV/AIDS on the streets of Yenagoa.

“My political journey was not the one which attracted much attention from spiritual leaders and seers because many then could not see me playing notable roles in the national affairs of my country, since I was not active in partisan politics back then.

“However, I must say it now that Kaunda in the early days of my political career, captured my political trajectory to the presidency in an accurate prophetic revelation that has continued to amaze me till this day.

“In 2006 when Kaunda had ended his visit to us in Yenagoa and was returning to Zambia, I remember seeing him off to the Port Harcourt Airport in neighbouring Rivers State.

“As he stood up and was about to board a vehicle that would convey him to the aircraft, he turned back and said to me, ‘young man, you will be the president of this country one day.’

“Myself and my Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Amb. Boladei Igali, who was with me, simply looked at each other in amazement, because the presidency was never in our dreams, at that time.

“Farfetched as these words seemed to me then, I later saw his prophecy fulfilled in my life within a decade.

“So I can say that KK was the man who saw tomorrow as it related then to my political future and fortune, as I eventually became the President of my country,” Jonathan said