Former President Goodluck Jonathan weekend accused African politicians of replacing military coup with civilian coup d’état.
Jonathan spoke during the 17th convocation ceremony of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo state after being conferred with an honourary Doctor of Science.
The former president who lamented the spate of killings and destruction of properties during elections in Africa continent noted that the development cannot sustain the continent.
He also noted that something was fundamentally wrong with the continent’s political system.
Jonathan plead with his fellow politicians to stop killing people and destroying property simply because people want to own offices.
“What happened in the last governorship elections in my state, Bayelsa and Kogi State, especially in Kogi State when a young lady was burnt alive in her house; something that should not happen in any normal nation. Something is fundamentally wrong with our political System,” he said.
“Only yesterday in one of the Africa countries we were discussing the politics of our continent. Most of us former Heads of State, former presidents and former vice presidents, we began to see that the way Africa politics is going we are replacing military coup with political coup d’état and that cannot sustain the continent”, he said.
He however, charged Nigeria youths, especially the graduate of the University, to go out and play a significant role in the development of the nation and the global world.
He declared that “what make you is not the temporary position we gain through politics. These are very ephemeral and not significant”.
While positing that nobody notices an individual after he or she leaves office, Jonathan added that one’s creative ability is the only thing that can sustain somebody in life.
“That is What you will live with until you die,” he explained.
He further explained that his administration established 12 conventional universities and two speciliased universities because of the premium the administration attached to education
He however, urged the founder of the university, Gabriel Igbinedion to resuscitate his moribund Okada airlines, noting that the nation’s aviation sector needed expansion.
Earlier, the chancellor of the university, Icgbinedion announced the naming of the institution’s College of Arts and Social Science after the former president.
Igbinedion assured that the students of the college would be proud of the now Goodluck Jonathan College of Arts and Social Science.
The chancellor who however worried over the huge deficit of medical professionals in the country called on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to as a matter of urgency consider increasing the admission quota for the institution as well as other medical schools in the country.
He said the call become necessary due to the huge deficit of medical professionals in the country.
He said out of the over 82,000 doctors so far inducted by the medical and dental council of Nigeria over 1000 of them graduated from the university.
In his speech, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Lawrence Ezemonye, said the institution had since its inception in 1999 graduated a total of 10,032 undergraduates and 645 postgraduate students.
He said a total of 464 students spread over seven colleges with 17 first class, 173 second class upper, 161 second class lower and three third class graduated in this year convocation.
He also disclosed that a total of 123 bagged post graduate degrees, comprising five postgraduate diploma, 87 masters and 31 PhDs.
Those conferred with honourary award along with former president Jonathan are Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, with Doctor of Public Administration; Sow Bertin Agba, a Togolese, Doctor of Busines Administration, and Jalade Omotola Ekeinde, Doctor of Arts.
