Nigeria won’t progress till it abandons primitive leadership selection — Jonathan

By Dapo Akinrefon & Henry Obetta Former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned that Nigeria will continue to struggle with development until it abandons what he described as primitive methods of selecting political leaders based on religion, ethnicity, language and other narrow considerations. Jonathan said the country must move away from such practices and prioritise competence and merit in leadership recruitment, stressing that no matter how qualified an individual might be, Nigeria could not make meaningful progress if leadership selection remained tied to divisive considerations.

The former president spoke on Saturday at the Herbert Macaulay Colloquium held in Lagos to mark the 162nd anniversary of the birth of the nationalist pioneer. Born on November 14, 1864, Macaulay is regarded as one of the founding figures of Nigerian nationalism. Speaking at the colloquium, Jonathan said: “We are still suffering from political leaders being recruited based on religion, language and all kinds of things.

Sometimes it is even beyond Muslim or Christian. I know of a particular state in southern Nigeria that 99.9 per cent of them are Christians. But if you don’t belong to one particular denomination, you cannot be the governor of the state. “That is the kind of thing we do. So no matter how good you are, until we move away from these primitive ways of recruiting political leaders, this country cannot go.” The former president identified leadership challenges, institutional weaknesses, corruption, policy inconsistency, inadequate infrastructure and insecurity as some of the factors impeding Nigeria’s development.

He also called for comprehensive democratic reforms, describing Nigeria’s current democratic system as “opaque and amorphous”. According to him, the country’s democratic system must be reviewed to reflect popular participation, the rule of law, respect for human rights, judicial independence, accountability, pluralism and a vibrant civil society. Jonathan further stressed the need to prioritise functional education and establish research-intensive universities capable of driving technological advancement and innovation.

Citing India, Singapore and South Korea as examples, he said the countries had leveraged quality education to achieve remarkable development. He said, “You can’t go anywhere with weak educational institutions.” He added that Nigeria must deliberately invest in its best brains and establish world-class universities to compete globally. Paying tribute to Herbert Macaulay and other founding nationalists, Jonathan said the greatest honour the country could accord them was not merely celebrating their sacrifices but building a nation that reflected the ideals for which they fought.