Former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned against converting Nigeria into a one-party state.
He gave the warning in Abuja on Wednesday while paying a tribute to the late elder statesman, Edwin Clark, at a memorial lecture and day of tribute. Clark, an Ijaw leader and politician, died in February at the age of 97.
Jonathan said making the country a one-party state through political machinations to soothe only personal aspirations would be detrimental to the country.
He said “If we must, as a nation, adopt a one-party system, then it must be designed, planned by experts—and we must know what we are going in for.”
The former president gave the warning on the heels of the alarm raised by some Nigerians that the country could be drifting into a one-party state, given the gale of defections from some opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
While agreeing that some nations had successfully practised one-party systems under unique historical and social conditions, Jonathan said Nigeria’s complex ethnic, religious and political landscape demands a more inclusive and carefully designed political framework.
“Yes, one-party states—countries have managed them. Yes, a one-party state may not be evil after all, because Julius Nyerere of Tanzania used a one-party state to stabilise his country in the early days of independence. He felt that the country, just like Nigeria, had too many tribes and tongues, and two principled religions—Christianity and Islam.
“If we allow multiple parties, some may follow religious lines, others tribal, and unity will be difficult. But it was properly planned; it was not by accident.”
He called on the Clark’s family to, among other things, set up a yearly memorial lecture in his honour to continue to push his ideas and what he stood for, which according to him, is a united, equitable and prosperous Nigeria.
