[1] Born and raised in Brazil, he has been a member, as a naturalized citizen, of the Equatorial Guinea national team.
Jônatas Obina started his career at Democrata de Sete Lagoas, where he was discouraged to pursue professional football.
After competing in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior for Vila Nova in January 2006,[2] Jônatas Obina became a professional footballer and played mostly for Minas Gerais based clubs, being Campeonato Mineiro Módulo II's top goalscorer with 13 goals in his first stint with América-TO, thus earning him a move to Le Mans where he played with the reserve team for less than a year.
[3] Immediately after, he was signed by Clube Atlético Mineiro for 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Jônatas made his debut as a second-half substitute in a 0–4 home loss against Internacional on 30 June 2011,[4] scoring his first goal on his second appearance for the club on 10 July against América Mineiro,[5] also scoring on his next match against Santos.
The following year, after manager Cuca declared he was not part of the club plans, he was loaned to Ipatinga and later to Boa for 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. Jônatas Obina was naturalized Equatoguinean in 2012[7] and made his official debut in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde coming off the bench in a 4–3 win.