Soyinka Blasts Federal Government Over Boko Haram

Nobel laureate, prominent Nigerian writer and
playwright, Professor Wole Soyinka, criticized
the Federal Government over the inadequately
slow action against the dreaded Boko Haram
sect, and not only.
Akinwande Oluwole “Wole” Soyinka is a Nigerian
playwright and poet
During his interview with German Radio DW, to
which The Nation refers, Soyinka characterized it as
“the biggest problem” he has “with the Jonathan
government”.
The first African awarded with Nobel Prize in
Literature, Soyinka said that some people were still
bent on creating a political crisis in the country by
stalling the upcoming elections and forming an
interim government.
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He was quoted as saying:
“Ex-military officers and security officers are trying
to push aside the political contestants and use the
unrest as an excuse to establish an interim
government. The nature of the interim government
wants to pretend it’s not really a military
intervention. A few political leaders, well-known
civilians, want to give the veneer of civilian
structure, but basically it’s a kind of political
intervention.”
The respectable Nigerian also lamented over the
situation with the Chibok girls abducted almost a
year ago. He has little hope that the “the majority of
them” will ever return home and believes that
despite joint offer with the neigbours’ military, there
is no chance of a rapid victory over Boko Haram.
“It will take a generation at least to exterminate this
phenomenon altogether. The military would not
have had to cope with Boko Haram on this level if
the proper action had been taken at the right time.”
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Soyinka also spoke critically about Patience
Jonathan, President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, and
about the possible (or even likely) military power
takeover.
“What she said was totally unacceptable. I no longer
regard her as the First Lady of Nigeria.”
Regarding the polls, the 80-year-old expressed
concern over the aggressive direction the election
campaign is taking. He added, however, that he did
not support the All Progressives Congress move
to file criminal charges against the First Lady before
the International Criminal Court (ICC).
It is worth noting that the major opposition party
has recently petitioned the international body urging
it to investigate the provocative statements made by
Dame Patience in the course of several rallies. The
ICC responded saying that it would consider the
matter “as appropriate” .