Biafrexit: Soyinka Drops a Bombshell!
Nigeria’s Sovereignty Is Negotiable, Says Soyinka
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has lent his voice to the growing
calls for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation, saying the
sovereignty of the nation is negotiable.
This is coming from the exit if Britain from the EU (Brexit) and
rising agitation for the exit of Biafra from Nigeria (Biafrexit).
Speaking during a visit to PUNCH Place, the corporate headquarters of
PUNCH Nigeria Limited, Kilometre 14, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun
State, on Tuesday, Soyinka said decentralisation of the nation would
ensure healthy rivalry among the component units.
The laureate said it was wrong for previous administrations in the
country to say that Nigeria’s sovereignty was non-negotiable, submitting
that the position was antithetical to development.
Soyinka added, “I am on the side of those who say we must do
everything to avoid disintegration. That language I understand. I don’t
understand (ex-President Olusegun) Obasanjo’s language. I don’t
understand (President Muhammadu) Buhari’s language and all their
predecessors, saying the sovereignty of this nation is non-negotiable.
It’s bloody well negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We better
negotiate it, not even at meetings, not at conferences, but everyday in
our conduct towards one another.
“We had better understand it too that when people are saying ‘let’s
restructure’, they have better things to do. It’s not an idle cry; it is
a perennial demand. The Pro-National Conference Organisation was about
restructuring when this same Obasanjo said it was an act of treason for
people to come together to fashion a new constitution. Those were
fighting words; that you’re saying, ‘I commit treason because I want to
sit with my fellow citizens and negotiate the structures of staying
together’ and ask the police to go and break it up and arrest us.
“I remember that policeman, who said if we met, that would be
treason. I wasn’t a member of PRONACO at the time. That’s when I joined
PRONACO. If you’re saying to me, ‘I am a second-class citizen; I cannot
sit down and discuss the articles, the protocols of staying together’
and you’re trying to bully me, I won’t accept.”
He said Nigeria could not continue with a centralisation policy,
which encouraged what he described as “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop”
mentality.
Soyinka said the over centralisation of government had resulted in
resentment among constituent states, adding that the phenomenon was
insulting and promoted anti-healthy rivalry among states.
He stated, “We cannot continue to
allow a centralisation policy which makes the constituent units of this
nation resentful; they say monkey dey work, baboon dey chop. And the
idea of centralising revenues, allocation system, whereby you dole out;
the thing is insulting and it is what I call anti-healthy rivalry. It is
against the incentives to make states viable.”
He said the centralisation of government led to the proliferation of
states during the military era when, according to him, a state was
created because the girlfriend of a certain military leader hailed from
the state.
He said it was high time government established state police to check
the rising security challenges in the country, stressing that policing
was more effective when localised.
Soyinka added, “I know people get nervous about that expression. If
you go to a place like England, you sometimes see two, three, four
police (officers) just walking casually unarmed, but they are observing
everything.
“Now, if policing is all of that, then I think the police are more
efficient if they are based within a smaller constituency than a larger
one. Within such constituencies, the policeman virtually knows
everybody. A federal, centralised system of police lacks that advantage.
“So, I find it very difficult to accept that people can be nervous
about the state police. State police has been abused. Nobody is denying
that; it’s historical. Don’t tell us because we know already. But isn’t
centralised police also abused? Look at what’s been coming out from the
last elections, not just the police, but the military.”
Condemning the killings perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen across the
country, the Professor of Comparative Literature said the phenomenon had
become an albatross that must be tackled frontally by the Federal
Government.
Soyinka said the intrusive nature of Fulani herdsmen was no longer a
remote problem for him personally, alleging that some Fulani herdsmen
had invaded the privacy of his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“It is no longer a remote problem for me. It is an actuality,” he
said, recalling that the killings carried out by suspected Fulani
herdsmen in Enugu some months ago was mismanaged by the government.
“In Enugu, why did it take so long to investigate the killings? It’s
like the case of Ese Oruru. What is all this? What is security for? That
thing should have been addressed immediately. (In Enugu), they
shouldn’t have waited for directives from Buhari or anybody. This is a
crime against humanity. There should be no debate about it.
“The military should have been drafted there immediately; the police,
first of all, and the military – if necessary. I found out that the
victims were arrested; what’s all that about? This menace is
underestimated. If they had reached my secure place in Abeokuta, then it
is no longer a remote problem.”
He faulted the proposal to create grazing reserves for herdsmen in the country, saying
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