By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has spoken against the idea of disintegration, saying the country’s greatness doesn’t just lie in her oil riches but also in her size.
The former President who met his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari in the State House on Wednesday, cautioned that if the country break into small fragments, the world will no longer reckon with her.
He said he will continue to work with all Niger Delta leaders to resolve the ongoing militancy in the region.
“It’s not just about me but about all the traditional rulers, elders and opinion leaders that are of the Ijaw ethnic nationality; we have been in touch to see that peace reigns in the country,” Mr. Jonathan said. “Those of you that have followed my talks when I was here, my emphasis is that we need a united Nigeria and I always emphasize that Nigeria is great not just about the oil – so many countries produce more oil than Nigeria nobody notices them.
“We are great because of our size, the human resources we have, the diversity we have, if we fragmentise the country into small components we will be forgotten by the world.”
A group known as Adaka Boro Avengers had threatened to declare an independent Niger Delta Republic on Monday, but said it cancelled the plan following the intervention of Jonathan and other leaders in the area.
“That has been my focal position and without peace, there cannot be development anywhere in the world. We are all working collectively to see that issues are resolved,” he said.
Jonathan who met with President Buhari for about 15 minutes, said he was at the State House to report his international engagements to his successor, as tradition demands.
“One key thing is that having been a head of a government, a former President you become a state property, that’s the privilege you have. But every privilege has its corresponding responsibility, and once you become a state property, most of your international engagement, that has to do with public addresses and some international assignment becomes a national assignment, you brief the President. Even when I was here the former Presidents used to do that and see me. I have been coming but most times I come in the night that’s why you don’t see me.
“I came to brief the President about some of my engagements. As you are aware I will be leading the AU elections monitoring team to Zambia, I came to brief the President about some of this external engagements. It is the tradition,” he said.
On the ongoing anti-corruption campaign that has seen several of his former aides and party men arrested and prosecuted, Jonathan said he would speak at the appropriate time when the cases are resolved in courts.
“I don’t want to talk about that one because there are too many cases that are in court, it will not be fair to make comments, I will talk at the appropriate time when most of these things are resolved,” he said.
