President Goodluck Jonathan is expecting persecution when he leaves office and he’s asked all his aides and Ministers to brace up for that persecution as well.

President Jonathan was  speaking on Sunday at a thanksgiving service organized in his honour at the Anglican Church, Life Camp, Abuja. He said some of the decisions he took while in office were unpopular and he expects a rough ride as a consequence of those decisions when he leaves Aso Villa.

“The decisions I took might be good for the generality of the people but it might affect some people differently. So, for ministers and aides who served with me, I sympathize with them, they will be persecuted. And they must be ready for that persecution.”

“To my ministers, I wish you what I wish myself,” he added. “They will have hard times, we will all have hard times. Our ways will be rough.”

President Jonathan also said he expects some of his friends to desert him and pretty soon as well; and said he lost the elections because of some of the decisions he took.

“Some hard decisions have their own cost, no doubt about that,” he said. “That I have ran the government this way that stabilized certain things, the electoral process and other things that brought stability into this country. They were very costly decisions which I myself must be ready to pay for.

“Some people come to me and say this or that person, is he not your friend that benefited. Is it not your government that this person benefited from? But this is what the person is saying?

“But I used to say worse statements will come. If you take certain decisions, you should know that those close to you will even abandon you at some point. And I tell them that more of my so-called friends will disappear.”