Prof. Wole Soyinka
Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, says
President Goodluck Jonathan is worse than neo-Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar, describing Jonathan as a President that embraces
impunity.
According to the account of the Holy
Bible, Nebuchadnezzar at the height of his reign became too arrogant and
God tampered with his heart and made him to eat grass and live like an
animal for seven years.
The title of the text Soyinka read at the briefing was, “King Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity.”
The opening of the address read, “I
shall not insist that the historical/biblical figure of Nebuchadnezzar
is uniquely apt for the pivotal figure of the ‘democratic’ history in
the making at this moment – for one thing, Nebuchadnezzar was a nation
builder and a warrior.
“One could argue even more convincingly
for the figure of Balthazar, his successor, or indeed Emperor Nero as
reference point – you all remember him – the emperor who took to
fiddling while Rome was burning. However you should easily recall why I
opted for King Nebuchadnezzar – the figure that currently sits on the
top of our political pile himself evoked it, albeit in a context that
virtuously disclaimed any similarities, even tendencies.”
He blamed Jonathan for the security
invasion of the National Assembly, during which lawmakers resorted to
scaling the fence of the Assembly complex to gain access to the
chambers.
He said, “The act of scaling gates and
walls to fulfil their duty by the people must be set down as their
finest hour. They must be applauded, not derided. If shame belongs
anywhere, it belongs to the Inspector General of Police and his lavish
adherence to illegal and unconstitutional instructions – to undermine a
democratic structure, and one (to make matters worse) convoked in
response to an emergency of dire concern.
“What sticks to this policeman (Abba) is
worse than shame, it is infamy. Such a public servant deserves to be
publicly pilloried, tried and meted a punishment that is appropriate to
treasonable acts, if only to serve as a deterrent to others in positions
of responsibility under the law. To demand less is to reduce ourselves
below the status of free citizens of a free nation.
“For this latest outrage, one in an
escalating series of impunity, the buck stops yet again at the
presidency and that incumbent, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, continues to
surprise us in ways that very few have conjectured.”
He said the split in Nigeria Governors’
Forum last year in which 16 governors had the final say over 19 other
governors showed that the President was willing to do anything to
achieve his political goals.
Soyinka said the barring of governors by
policemen from entering Ekiti State to campaign for former Governor
Kayode Fayemi in June showed that Jonathan was not only a dictator but
was encouraging impunity by encouraging security agents to disrespect
constituted authority.
He also berated the Inspector General of
Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, whom he said was appointed for the sole
purpose of achieving Jonathan’s selfish ambition.
He said Jonathan was using ethnic
sentiments to ensure his return to Aso Rock next year, describing the
President’s recent visit to the Obafemi Awolowo University to consult
with Yoruba leaders as appalling.
He said doing such on the same day Boko
Haram attacked a mosque in Kano was irresponsible, adding that
Jonathan’s quest for power had prevented his ability to think out a way
to stop terrorists.
He said, “The shambles that punctuated a
presidential campaign visit at the OAU a few days ago merely underline
the total alienation of President Jonathan from the reality that has
engulfed the nation.
“That a national leader should go
campaigning on the platform of ethnic support at a time when priorities
dictate a united national engagement for survival is a grotesque
undertaking that was tragically rebuked in the massacre of worshippers
and desecration of the Kano mosques almost simultaneously with the
alienated gathering of selected crowned heads.
“Long before Nyanya, long before Chibok,
long before the mildest of then now innumerable violations of our basic
right to exist as free citizens, the march of a nation towards
implosion has dominated the landscape but an obsession with the
pettiness of power has obscured remedial vision and thus, the creative
options constantly open to prescient leadership.”
Soyinka said the refusal of other
countries to continue to help Nigeria in the fight against terrorism was
because the foreign countries were cynical of Nigeria’s claim to fight
insecurity.
He said by sacking a former Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Gbenga Ashiru, at a time when Nigeria needed
to strengthen its foreign policy, Jonathan had shown the he preferred
to play politics than deliver the true dividends of democracy to the
people.
He said insecurity would have been
curbed if Nigeria had learned from what happened to Mali wherein al-Qeda
militants brought the nation to its knees.
He said, “The lesson of Mali was
completely lost on complacent leadership, however, leaving time and
space for alien invaders to make common cause with the internal,
unleashing detruction at will and dancing around a nation whose armed
forces have acquitted themselves creditably on foreign missions.
“The architect of the initial policy of
containment was the recently deceased Gbenga Ashiru, then Foreign
Minister, unceremoniously removed for the ends of premature politicking,
before the logical development of that initiative.
“Now of course, the very manipulators of
Ashiru’s removal are falling over one another, to heap praises on the
quality of his achievements in office.”
Soyinka said Nigeria had come to a point
where citizens would now have to defend themselves since the government
had failed to ensure the safety of the citizens.
However, the Presidency on Tuesday said
Soyinka was only playing the ostrich by accusing Jonathan of being worse
than King Nebuchadnezzar.
Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said, in a text message
sent to one of our correspondents, that it was saddening that the Nobel
Laureate also failed to apprehend Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers
State, who he described as the “national champion of impunity and
official recklessness.”
He said, “Our eminent professor also
sadly plays the ostrich as he failed to reprimand Governor Amaechi who
is the national champion of impunity and official recklessness.
“The administration of President
Goodluck Jonathan proves itself as the most liberal, keeping faith with
adherence to rule of law and tolerance.”
Read the full speech
here.
