The Way We Are, No Serious Investor Will Consider Nigeria” – Jonathan

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

“The Judicial arm of this Government knows the truth, but pretending to be asleep. It does not want to be woken up.”

Finally, former President Goodluck Jonathan has broken his silence on the   state of emergency  declared in Rivers State.

Amidst strident and vociferous outcry across the country, the former President, just like his other colleagues, including the blunt  Olusegun Obasanjo, maintained a studied silence.

But at an annual Colloquium put together by the Haske Satumari Foundation in Abuja on Saturday, March 22, 2025, Jonathan described the proclamation of a State of Emergency in Rivers State ,and the suspension of the Governor ,his Deputy and  State Lawmakers  a gross abuse of power.

The former President insisted that impunity within the three arms of Government has done more damage to the global image of Nigeria than the activities of fraudsters.

The Source reports that the former President had in the thick of the ravaging Boko Haram insurgency in North East region in 2014 declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

However, the Governors, legislators and other duly elected officials of the affected states all remained in office.

But on March 18, 2025 while proclaiming the State of Emergency in Rivers State, President Tinubu appointed retired Naval Chief of Staff, Vice Marshall Ibok-Ete Ibas as the Sole Administrator after suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State Lawmakers for six months.

The action, despite being  ratified by the National Assembly, has continued to elicit widespread condemnation across the country.

According to Jonathan, people had called on him and Obasanjo ,to comment when the issue of the emergency rule first cropped up.

However, he noted that, it is not always the tradition for former Presidents to be making statements concerning the  actions and or inactions of the sitting  President.

“As a former President and also from the Niger Delta Region, when the  issue of the suspension of the Governor of Rivers state came up, people called me to speak out,

“I think people called on me ,and former President Olusegun Obasanjo to say  something. People wanted  us to say something about what was happening.

“But people don’t know that all over the world, traditionally, former Presidents and Leaders hardly make public statements on sitting  Presidents.

“This is to avoid tensions which the statements of the former leaders could generate within the system.

“In most cases, it is the practice among former Presidents to refrain from publicly commenting on the activities of sitting presidents.

“However, what is happening in Nigeria today  regarding the  situation in Rivers State can be likened  to an Indian proverb that says “if somebody is sleeping, really sleeping, you can easily wake up that person.

“But if that person is pretending to be sleeping, you will find it difficult to wake up the person.

“The key actors in Nigeria ,from the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary to others, for me, are pretending to be sleeping. The Judiciary knows the best thing to do. But unfortunately, it is  refusing to do it

“They are pretending to be sleeping, and like I pointed out earlier, waking up such an entity or persons will  be extremely difficult.

“This is because the persons know the right thing but will not do it.

“There are clear cases of  abuse of power cutting across the   three arms of Government, from the Executive, Legislature, to the Judiciary in the country.

“But I  always try to let our people understand that whatever we do in life tend to affect everybody. But sometimes, we do things thinking that they don’t affect us”, Jonathan noted

The former president lamented that ,the high level of impunity and abuse of power in the country has impacted negatively on the image of Nigeria, with the citizens subjected to ill-treatments all over the world as a result.

“Some people have not bothered to find out why our country’s international passport is not valued that much outside.

“Why is it that Nigerians are not given the kind of treatment befitting our status as a great country  at international airports?

“Unfortunately, many of us think that the shabby treatment we receive outside is because of the activities of fraudsters, yahoo- yahoo boys, 419 operators, and drug dealers.

“Unknown to many of us, the actions, decisions and the general conducts of those in Government – the three arms of Government – affect the image of Nigeria and its citizens all over the world”, Jonathan stated.

The former President noted that genuine and serious business operators and investors will find it extremely difficult to bring their capitals to countries where the Judiciary arm of Government is widely seen as compromised.

“No investor can bring his/her money to put in a country where the Judiciary is compromised; officials of the Executive arm are perceived to be influencing judgments from the Judiciary.

“Anybody that brings his capital to such an environment will be  taking a  very big risk.

“The truth remains that whatever we do in the system will always have a way of either positively impacting us as a country and or ruining us.

“If we are desirous of building a prosperous, just and peaceful country where every segment will be happy, then we have to do the right thing.

“Whether you are holding an Executive Office as the President, Governor, Lawmaker, Minister, Judge, and what have you, there is the need for us to do the right thing, if truly we want to build a nation that future generations will be proud of”, Jonathan admonished.