Dele Farotimi Dismisses Jonathan’s Political Return, Urges Focus on Structural Problems

Human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has dismissed suggestions of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan returning to frontline politics, insisting that no leader can fix Nigeria without addressing its deep-rooted structural problems.

Reacting to reports of Jonathan’s possible re-emergence ahead of the 2027 elections during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Farotimi said leadership changes alone would not solve the country’s challenges.

“A thousand Goodluck Ebele Jonathans cannot solve the problems of Nigeria. They might as well go ahead to increase his brain powers by factors of a thousand for good measure. If we do not address our structural problems and tell ourselves the basic truths we owe to ourselves, nothing is going to change,” he stated.

Farotimi noted that Jonathan was once heavily criticised and removed amid promises of a better Nigeria, yet the same issues persist.

“They can recycle all these people as many times as they care. This was the same Jonathan that was horribly vilified and labelled. The press, the pulpit, and the mosque all said his removal would solve our problems, and here we are,” he said.

He stressed that the nation’s problems transcend individuals, warning that removing current President Bola Tinubu without reforming the system would only perpetuate failure.

“If you removed Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office today, and you do not touch that evil system that has produced the kind of people who have ruined the country, all this talk about Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is just more distraction from the political ‘ruinning’ class,” Farotimi argued.

The activist emphasised the need for institution-building rather than seeking a political “messiah.”

“It’s about building enduring systems. How do you rebrand a failure of 2015 into a saint and saviour in 2025? Ten years have gone full cycle, and we’re back saying we were better off where we were,” he added.