JONATHAN BLAST HIS CRITICS

President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the huge number of Nigerians serving various jail terms in South Africa for different criminal activities remained a dent on the nation’s image.
He said a situation where more than 400 of about 250,000 Nigerians resident in South Africa are in prison was not acceptable to his government.
Jonathan expressed his displeasure at the development while addressing members of the Nigerian community in South Africa on Monday evening in Cape Town at the commencement of his official visit to the country.
He said,  “I was told that more than 250,000 Nigerians are living in South Africa and that more than 400 are in prison serving various jail terms. This is a bad example of what Nigerians in the Diaspora should be; there are some countries like Malawi and Uganda that no Nigerian is in prison.
“Most Nigerians are doing very well abroad in various professional callings. There are Nigerians living in South Africa making good name for us but a few of you are doing things in different ways.
“There is need for these few Nigerians to be good ambassadors of Nigeria so that people will not see Nigeria and Nigerians as corrupt and criminally-minded people and nation.”
On the cases of corruption in Nigeria, Jonathan argued that most of  those who accused his government of condoning corruption are themselves engaging in corrupt practices.
While admitting that there is indeed corruption in the system, Jonathan again restated his position that the situation was being exaggerated in the media.
“From my experience as deputy governor up till the time I was elected as the vice president,  I know those who talk more about corruption are the most corrupt. Peoples’ perception about corruption in Nigeria was over -amplified than the corruption that happens in the country. The perception index is very high, we are not saying there’s no corruption in the country, all of us must work hard to fight corruption,’’ Jonathan said.
He assured Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora that his administration was working hard to address the situation.
He used the opportunity of the meeting to intimate Nigerians in South Africa of the achievements so far recorded by his administration under the transformation agenda.
The President urged them to support his administration in its quest to bequeath a better Nigeria to the next generation.
He said that the problem of insecurity in some parts of the country was being addressed by government.