Former U.S. Mayor Mike Arnold questions Jonathan’s 2027 readiness, urges leadership capable of confronting violent extremism

International, Politics

ABUJA, Nigeria (NPA) — A United States-based conservative activist and founder of Africa Arise International, Mike Arnold, has questioned whether former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan possesses the resolve needed to confront Nigeria’s worsening security crisis should he contest the 2027 presidential election.

Arnold, a former mayor of Blanco City in Texas, made the remarks in a statement titled “A Question for President Goodluck Jonathan.”

In the statement released Friday, Arnold described Jonathan as “a good man,” saying the former president is remembered as “gentle, thoughtful and prayerful,” qualities he said are rare in African politics.

“I have sat with him. I have looked him in the eye. He is gentle, thoughtful, prayerful — a rare combination at the top of African politics,” Arnold stated.

However, he argued that Nigeria’s current security and humanitarian challenges require leadership prepared to confront violent extremism and insecurity more aggressively.

“Nigerians can no longer afford a leader who lays down the fight in the name of peace. The blood is already on the ground. The peace has already been broken,” he said.

Arnold alleged that since 2015, insecurity has claimed the lives of more than 185,000 Nigerians, cutting across both Christians and Muslims. He asserted that 125,000 Christians and 60,000 peaceful Muslims were slaughtered by the same machinery of violence. In addition, over 19,000 churches were destroyed, while between 10 to 12 million Nigerians were displaced from their ancestral lands. He further described the crisis as marked by mass slavery, mass starvation, and mass forgetting. Against this backdrop, Arnold warned that the scale of the nation’s challenges is so severe that the leadership of a single “good person,” so to speak, would not be sufficient to contain the prevailing insanity.

NPA could not independently verify the casualty figures cited in the statement.

The American activist further argued that Jonathan’s decision to concede defeat in the 2015 presidential election, widely praised at the time as a statesmanlike move, continues to raise questions about whether he was willing to fully confront the forces behind Nigeria’s insecurity.

Jonathan famously conceded defeat to former President Muhammadu Buhari after the 2015 election, stating at the time that his political ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

Arnold said while the concession elevated Jonathan’s global image as a statesman, he believes the political struggle at the time went beyond personal ambition. “The fight was not about his political ambition. It was about life. It was about liberty,” he stated.

He also claimed that during Jonathan’s administration, Nigeria experienced relative stability and stronger resistance against insurgent groups compared to subsequent years.

According to Arnold, the worsening security situation since 2015 has heightened concerns about the country’s future ahead of the 2027 elections. He said reports suggesting Jonathan may contest the presidency again had prompted renewed debate over the type of leadership Nigeria requires.

“Mr President — now more than perhaps any time in Nigerian history, your people need a fighter,” Arnold said.

He challenged Jonathan to explain what lessons he learned from the 2015 election and what he would do differently if given another opportunity to lead the country.

As of the time of filing this report, former President Goodluck Jonathan had not publicly responded to the statement. Addressing a group of supporters in Abuja yesterday — mostly young people urging him to contest — Jonathan cautioned that running for the Nigerian presidency “is not like playing a computer game.” He added that he is still consulting widely before making any decision.