“What is happening in Nigeria today is like the Indian proverb that says: If somebody is really sleeping, you can easily wake that person up, but if a person is pretending to sleep, it is difficult to wake that person up.
The key actors in Nigeria, from the Executive to the Legislature and the Judiciary, know the correct thing to do, but they are refusing to do it. They are pretending to sleep, and waking up such people is extremely difficult, because they know the right thing to do.
There is a clear abuse of power, a clear abuse of privileges cutting across the three arms of government. What they don’t know is that whatever we do affects everybody. No country brings its investments to a country whose judiciary is compromised.
Why is our passport not valued abroad? Why are Nigerians not given the kind of treatment they are supposed to receive at international airports?
What our leaders don’t know is that whatever decision is taken by the Executive arm of government, and the decisions taken by the Parliament and the Judiciary, affect everybody.
For example, no businessman will bring his money to invest in a country where the judiciary is compromised, where a government functionary can dictate to judges what judgment they will give.
Nobody will bring his money to invest in such an economy, because you are taking a big risk.”
—President Goodluck Jonathan.