Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that African politicians are systematically replacing military coup with political coup d’état across the continent.
He said this at the 27th Convocation and the award of degrees of the Igbinedion University, Okada where he was conferred with the honorary degree of doctor of science.
He said: “Only yesterday in one African country, we were discussing the politics of our continent. Most of us former Heads of State, presidents, former presidents and vice presidents, the way African politics is going, we are replacing military coup with civilian coup de’ta and that cannot sustain the continent.”
While speaking on behalf of other awardees, the former President also decried the spate of killings and destruction of properties by politicians in their quest or power.
He said: “Let me plead with my fellow politicians, they should stop killing the people, destroying properties because people want to own offices.
“What happened in the last governorship elections in my state, Bayelsa and Kogi State, especially in Kogi State, where a woman was burnt alive in her house, is something that should not happen in any normal society. Something is fundamentally wrong with our political System.”
He noted that what makes one in life is not the temporary position he gains through politics but your creative ability and God’s given talent in any form.
Jonathan described the Pro Chancellor of the institution, Sir Gabriel Igbinedion (Esama of Benin) as a trail blazer being the first Nigerian to establish a private university and airline, saying that Nigeria wants him to resuscitate the Okada airline because the aviation industry is expanding in Nigeria.
On his part, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, while commending Igbinedion for establishing the first private university noted that Edo has become the home of human capital development.
