For the umpteenth time, Nobel laureate Wole
Soyinka has condemned President Goodluck
Jonathan for allowing what he called a reign of
impunity during his tenure.
Soyinka’s latest criticism of the incumbent
president was at a press conference held in Lagos
on December 2, 2014, Tuesday, which was titled
‘King Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity’.
Speaking at the event, the Nobel laureate
condemned the recent police siege on the National
Assembly, saying that the action of the Inspector
General of Police, Suleiman Abba, against members
of the House of Representatives was an
“unambiguous” declaration of war against the
people.
He added that the battle line had been drawn and
Nigerians must decide whether to submit or resist to
the current democratic dispensation.
In his own words: “I shall not insist that the biblical
figure of Nebuchadnezzar is uniquely apt for the
pivotal figure of the ‘democratic’ history in the
making at this moment.
“For one thing, Nebu 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 Nebu – 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.
“Perhaps he meant it at the time when he claimed: ‘I
am no Nebuchadnezzar.’ Perhaps not. One judges
leaders on acts however, not pronouncements,
which are often as reliable as electoral promises.”
Soyinka said that it was left for Nigerians to decide
to revert to the “Abacharian status of glorified
slaves.”
He continued: “The praetorian guards have been let
loose – to teach the rabble their place.
“The recent choice of a new leader for the guard
was clearly no accident, and this hitherto unknown
enforcer, one Suleiman Abba, has wasted no time in
inaugurating a season of brutish power.
“When a people’s elected emissaries are
disenfranchised, cast out like vagrants and resort to
scaling fences to engage in their designated
functions, the people get the message.
“However, the choice is always there, and each
choice comes at a cost. It is either we pay now, or
pay later.”
Soyinka also said that President Goodluck Jonathan
had continued to surprise Nigerians in ways “few
could have conjectured.”
The Nobel laureate concluded by saying: “Peaking at
his own personalised example where he set the law
of arithmetic on its head – I refer to the split in the
Governors’ Forum, and his ‘formal’ recognition of
the minority will in a straightforward, peer election
– democracy has been rendered meaningless
where it should be most fervently exemplified.
“Nothing is more unworthy of leadership than to
degrade a system by which one attains fulfilment,
and this is what the nation has witnessed time and
time again in various parts of the nation, the recent
affront against the legislative chamber being only
the most blatant and unconscionable.
“It is a warning. His choices for the occupancy of
crucial public positions – such as the protective
arm of the nation – constitutes an even more
immediate and constant public alert. The signals are
ominous – for and beyond 2015.”
Soyinka has condemned President Goodluck
Jonathan for allowing what he called a reign of
impunity during his tenure.
Soyinka’s latest criticism of the incumbent
president was at a press conference held in Lagos
on December 2, 2014, Tuesday, which was titled
‘King Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity’.
Speaking at the event, the Nobel laureate
condemned the recent police siege on the National
Assembly, saying that the action of the Inspector
General of Police, Suleiman Abba, against members
of the House of Representatives was an
“unambiguous” declaration of war against the
people.
He added that the battle line had been drawn and
Nigerians must decide whether to submit or resist to
the current democratic dispensation.
In his own words: “I shall not insist that the biblical
figure of Nebuchadnezzar is uniquely apt for the
pivotal figure of the ‘democratic’ history in the
making at this moment.
“For one thing, Nebu 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 Nebu – 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.
“Perhaps he meant it at the time when he claimed: ‘I
am no Nebuchadnezzar.’ Perhaps not. One judges
leaders on acts however, not pronouncements,
which are often as reliable as electoral promises.”
Soyinka said that it was left for Nigerians to decide
to revert to the “Abacharian status of glorified
slaves.”
He continued: “The praetorian guards have been let
loose – to teach the rabble their place.
“The recent choice of a new leader for the guard
was clearly no accident, and this hitherto unknown
enforcer, one Suleiman Abba, has wasted no time in
inaugurating a season of brutish power.
“When a people’s elected emissaries are
disenfranchised, cast out like vagrants and resort to
scaling fences to engage in their designated
functions, the people get the message.
“However, the choice is always there, and each
choice comes at a cost. It is either we pay now, or
pay later.”
Soyinka also said that President Goodluck Jonathan
had continued to surprise Nigerians in ways “few
could have conjectured.”
The Nobel laureate concluded by saying: “Peaking at
his own personalised example where he set the law
of arithmetic on its head – I refer to the split in the
Governors’ Forum, and his ‘formal’ recognition of
the minority will in a straightforward, peer election
– democracy has been rendered meaningless
where it should be most fervently exemplified.
“Nothing is more unworthy of leadership than to
degrade a system by which one attains fulfilment,
and this is what the nation has witnessed time and
time again in various parts of the nation, the recent
affront against the legislative chamber being only
the most blatant and unconscionable.
“It is a warning. His choices for the occupancy of
crucial public positions – such as the protective
arm of the nation – constitutes an even more
immediate and constant public alert. The signals are
ominous – for and beyond 2015.”
posted from Bloggeroid
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