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Soyinka To Buhari: You Can’t Defeat B’Haram By Sitting In Aso Rock

January 10, 2021 No Comments

Nobel Laureate, Prof. wole Shoyinka has called for a national mobilisation to combat the menace of insecurity bedevilling the country.

He also said Nigeria’s sovereignty had been taken away by Boko Haram terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.

In a direct reference to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nobel laureate said the President could not end the country’s insecurity challenge, sitting down in Aso Rock.

Soyinka stated this on Saturday while featuring on an Arise TV programme monitored by Sunday PUNCH.

According to him, Nigeria has reached the “stage of desperation”. The government should be willing to “pay people to come and help us” in defence against Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, and other criminal elements.

Soyinka said, “There are those on whose shoulders must be placed the primary responsibility and that include some former Heads of State who refused to see the inevitability of what we are going through right now.

“I am very glad that the northern elite is now speaking up, boldly and practically, (and are also) now taking measures which they should have taken years ago. They’ve moved beyond the unbelievable policies of actually paying killers to stop killing. I don’t want to mention names, but some admitted that they were paying protection money to killers instead of dealing with that cancer in the only way they should, which is excision, to take out killers instead of giving them money.

“You don’t appease evil, and we are dealing with evil; there is no other word, we are dealing with the proliferation, the enthronement of evil in society. And unfortunately, we have encouraged its manifestation, its proliferation, its entrenchment.

“So, let them get away with the issue of sovereignty. If they have to pay people to come and help us, then call them whatever you want. Please go ahead because we’ve reached that stage of desperation.

“But I will prefer a general mobilisation in which people are trained, farmers especially are trained to work with the hoe in one hand and the gun in the other hand, ready to protect their lives, their harvests and the rest of us.

“We are not unique; history is full of those situations. I would like to see a national mobilisation. Let’s be practical.”

The PUNCH had earlier reported that at least 43 rice farmers were beheaded by Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State last November.

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, had consequently urged the Federal Government to engage mercenaries and the militaries of neighbouring countries, like Chad and Cameroon, to crush the over decade-old Boko Haram insurgency.

Soyinka added, “From a self-protective point of view, it is a common problem; it is a national, collective issue. Don’t just sit there and think that you can solve it from Aso Rock; no. This now concerns even the lowest common citizens in this nation because that lowest, that most impotent individual has become a prime target. So, it’s a collective issue. I’m not surprised some governors now say let us reach outside help; I have also said something. I don’t say mercenaries necessarily, but this has gone beyond a Nigerian problem.

“Instead of that, what do I hear? Somebody gets on the podium and say, ‘The sovereignty of this nation cannot be challenged. Please, don’t let us hear any more of that rubbish. The sovereignty of this nation is in the hands of the murdering herdsmen. The sovereignty of this nation has already been taken over by Boko Haram; it’s been taken over by ISWAP, it’s been taken over by those with absolutely no respect for what is called national integrity.”

Soyinka also said Buhari’s nepotistic tendencies were outrageous, adding that the President appointed wrong people into the wrong places.

Soyinka’s statement comes two weeks after the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Mathew Kukah, also accused the President of nepotism.

Meanwhile, Soyinka also warned that the Western Nigeria Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun, must not transform into another form of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

The writer said Amotekun operatives must be trained in ethics to not end on the wrong side of history.

Soyinka said, “Community policing, like Amotekun, is a recognition of the fact that the civic part of the entire national polity has got to wake up in not just its defence but also survival.

“I have told them that anytime they want us to come and assist; we will come even if it is just on the ethical session so that as you are training them to defend us, we are also training their minds so that Amotekun does not become another SARS – very important. We must do everything together.

“It is about time the public examined itself; what are we made up of? Are there those among us who, if they got into power, will behave exactly as those kinds of agencies which we are repudiating and against which we are protesting? There is no excuse for the brutality that occurred in the wake of the noise, rumour or reality of people being shot at the lekki tollgate.”

According to the presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari will not “succumb to threats and undue pressure” , being mounted by advocates of restructuring the country.

The Presidency, in a statement, criticised “the recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country with factions giving specific timelines for the President to to do one thing or another or else, in their language, “the nation will break up.”

The statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu, added:

“This is to warn that such unpatriotic outbursts are both unhelpful and unwarranted as this government will not succumb to threats and take any decision out of pressure at a time when the nation’s full attention is needed to deal with the security challenges facing it at a time of the COVID-19 health crisis.”

“This administration will not take any decision against the interests of 200 million Nigerians, who are the President’s first responsibility under the constitution, out of fear or threats especially in this hour of health crisis.”

He further stated that;

“The President as an elected leader under this constitution will continue to work with patriotic Nigerians, through and in line with the Parliamentary processes to finding solutions to structural and other impediments to the growth and wellbeing of the nation and its people.”

In another statement, the Presidency said those condemning the organised Labour for reasoning with the government by suspending a planned nationwide strike last week are enemies of the country.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), after rounds of negotiations with the federal government, suspended the industrial action slated to commence on September 28.

The decision was criticised by varying groups, with some suggesting that the decision was a betrayal.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina, noted that the attack on the Labour unions was borne out of pain for “traducers of the Administration”, having failed to achieve an alleged plan to use the strike to score political and electoral gains.

The statement said:

“Since Organized Labour toed the path of sense and sensibility last week, seeing reason with the imperatives of fuel price adjustment, and opening a further window of dialogue on the service based electricity tariff, some groups of Nigerians have been dolorous, disgruntled, and disconsolate.

“They had apparently perfected plans to use the strike by the labour unions as smokescreen to unleash anarchy on the land, fomenting mayhem and civil disobedience. But the plan blew up in their faces, and they have been in severe pains since then. They have launched series of tirades against Organized Labour.”

“For some interest groups, their intention was to use the umbrella of the strike to further their whimsical and pie-in-the-sky dream of a revolution in the country. It went bust in their faces.”

“For some others, Bitter-Enders, who have remained entrenched in pre-2015 and 2019 elections mode, it was opportunity to avenge the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests, which they believe largely devalued the government of the day, and led to its eventual ouster in 2015.”

“The strike that was to have come up last week, they wanted to use as opportunity for a pound of flesh, which they calculated would weaken the government so much, and influence the 2023 elections.”

“For them, it was all about hanker for power, its trappings and appurtenances. Nothing about love of country. They have since then been calling Organized Labour all sorts of names, claiming they deceived Nigerians.”

“The times in which we live-with severe security, economic and social challenges-call for all hands to be on deck, and goodwill and support for government, as it strives to put the nation on an even keel. We commend Organized Labour for putting the country first.”

“Those sponsoring and encouraging discord and anarchy, either for selfish ends, or as revenge for perceived injuries, are enemies of the country. Nigerians are urged to beware of them, as the Muhammadu Buhari government is only interested in engendering better quality of life for the citizenry. Nothing more.”