2027: Don’t Choose Leaders Based On Religion, Ethnicity — Jonathan Warns Nigerians

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged Nigerians to reject the practice of selecting political leaders based on religious affiliation, ethnicity, language and other divisive considerations, warning that the country cannot achieve meaningful development without prioritising competence and merit.

Jonathan said Nigeria would continue to struggle with development if political leadership remained influenced by narrow identity-based interests rather than the ability of individuals to deliver good governance.

He made the remarks on Saturday at the Herbert Macaulay Colloquium in Lagos, organised to commemorate the 162nd anniversary of the birth of the nationalist pioneer, who was born on November 14, 1864.

Speaking at the event, the former president criticised what he described as primitive approaches to political leadership recruitment, saying religious considerations sometimes extended beyond the Muslim-Christian divide to differences among denominations.

“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,” Jonathan said.

He cited an unnamed state in southern Nigeria where, according to him, belonging to a particular Christian denomination was a major consideration for anyone seeking to become governor.

“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,” he added.

Jonathan identified poor leadership, weak institutions, corruption, inconsistent government policies, inadequate infrastructure and insecurity as major obstacles to Nigeria’s development.

He also called for far-reaching democratic reforms, describing the country’s existing democratic structure as “opaque and amorphous”.

According to him, Nigeria must strengthen its democratic institutions to guarantee popular participation, uphold the rule of law, protect human rights, ensure judicial independence and promote accountability, pluralism and an active civil society.

The former president further emphasised the importance of functional education and investment in research-driven universities, arguing that strong educational institutions were essential for technological advancement and national development.

Citing India, Singapore and South Korea as examples, Jonathan said the countries had recorded significant progress by making quality education a priority.

“You can’t go anywhere with weak educational institutions,” he said.

He urged Nigeria to invest deliberately in its brightest minds and establish world-class universities capable of producing the knowledge and innovations needed to compete internationally.

Paying tribute to Herbert Macaulay and other Nigerian nationalists, Jonathan said the most meaningful way to honour their contributions was to build a country that reflected the values and aspirations for which they struggled.