Coup: Such Victory Songs Won't Last Long — Goodluck Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that victory songs following jubilations of African coup incidents will not last long.

While sharing his opinion on the recent spate of coups in the African continent, Jonathan harped on the need for the region to rejig its democracy.

According to him, leadership ought to ensure that democracy translates to economic well-being but the issues of poverty and unemployment have created a crisis of trust in the hearts of the masses.

During a Democracy Dialogue 2023 organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), he stated that it is the responsibility of leaders to adhere to the rule of law and respect the people's rights.

“Leadership is supposed to work to ensure that democracy is translated to economic well-being,” he said, explaining that democracy should be able to encourage development.

“Recently, we have experienced jubilations heralding the overthrow of civilian administrations in Africa, people jubilating military overthrowing civil administrations. Such victory songs will not last long, but it shows that Africa needs to rejig her democracy.

“In recent years, democracy in the continent has caused a serious crisis. The challenges of poverty and unemployment have created a crisis of trust in the hearts of our citizens.

“As leaders, we have the responsibility to ensure that democracy endures by adhering to the rules of law, respecting the rights of the people, strengthening public institutions, ensuring that we implement policies that will impact positively on the lives of our people,” Jonathan shared.