Killings in the North planned, says Soyinka

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By Emmanuel Oladesu, Deputy Political Editor

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka yesterday spoke on the violence that broke out in the North, following the outcome of the presidential elections, saying it was pre-meditated.

He called for a code of common behaviour, which prescribes distinct punishment for those elements, who have violated the rules of mutual existence in the country.

Lamenting the murder of Youth Corps members in some northern states, which he said has affected the unity of Nigeria, the former university don urged President Goodluck Jonathan to facilitate the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNG) to discuss the basis for peaceful co-existence in the country.



Urging the governor-elect to restore the honour of the state, he said the murder of the late Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) politician, Otunba Dipo Dina, should be revisited.



Nobel laureate
Prof. Wole Soyinka



Soyinka applauded the power shift to progressives in Ogun State, noting that the electorate have voted out a "fetish" government, which trampled on the dignity of the people and prevented the House of Assembly from performing its democratic duties.

Soyinka, who spoke with reporters in Lagos on the general elections, especially the preliminary report of the monitoring group, ‘Reclaim Niger Organisation’, said that President Goodluck Jonathan won the presidential election.

He said despite the hiccups, including under-age voting and improper accreditation of voters, the polls were declared free and fair by domestic and foreign observers.

"My view is that the presidential election was won by President Jonathan, based on figures collated," Soyinka stressed, adding that he would not comment on matters of figures because he is not a ‘mathematician’ like Akinjide. Chief Richard Akinjide, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, argued the 12 2/3 case in the 1979 elections that brought Alhaji Shehu Shagari to power. He was later rewarded with appointment as Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in the Second Republic.

Soyinka rejected the speculations that led to "unbelievable carnage and destruction of lives" in Kaduna, Gombe and Bauchi states.

He said what appalled him was the glee with which the assault on humanity and killings were accomplished, stressing that the joyful acceptance of the carnage in high quarters was worrisome.

Soyinka said: "The carnage is unacceptable to me because it involves human beings. In the end, these killings were done on a non-existing foundation. In any decent society, such killings are not acceptable. In the end, in my view, it turns out that these killings were carried out on nothing. They were carried out on a piece of lies; I suspect sometimes, deliberate misinformation, may be, on no information at all. They were planned well before hand. Anybody who says they were not planned before hand is a naive individual. From the reports, I did not detect any note of spontaneity. I am convinced that these killings were planned before hand. And it is the responsibility, not only of government, but any citizen who lays claim to humanity to denounce these killings in the strongest possible terms.

"I watched the body language of some of those leaders on television responding to these killings, the unnecessary waste of human lives. I was very disappointed. I am not going to name names. I did not detect any vestige of remorse."

Soyinka spoke on his involvement in the efforts to rescue Youth Corps members trapped in the trouble spots, saying their condition was pitiable.

He lamented that the youths were deliberately targeted by rioters who actually chased them while on national duty.

The renowned playwright, who described the NYSC as the greatest legacy of the Gowon administration, likened the scheme to the Peace Corps of the Kennedy years in the United States, stressing that members deserved the care and protection of their host communities.

Soyinka blamed successive administrations for not acting decisively when violence erupted and strangers were targeted, pointing out that non-natives were usually vulnerable in their places of sojourn.

He added: "Two of my children served in the Northern parts of the country; one in Maiduguri, another in Jos or somewhere I can’t remember now. Today, if I have children who are to go on service there again, I will say ‘over my dead body’. These children were brought together and sent to the various parts of the country to foster a sense of unity.

"The frequency of the killings has, not now, but ages ago, passed intolerable level. We have a succession of governments who revel in the culture of impunity."

Soyinka, who congratulated the President for his victory at the polls, enjoined him never to emulate his predecessors, who, he said, turned deaf ears to the agitations for a Sovereign National Conference (SNG).

He chided the past Heads of State for their insensitivity to the national question, saying their attitudes contributed to the dismembering of Nigeria.

Soyinka said the Jonathan administration would fail, if the President brushes aside the call for the resolution of fundamental issues germane to the existence of the country or if he reduces it to an unintended interpretation.

The master dramatist also called for a new direction in governance, proposing a closure to the bogus salary earned by legislators.

He maintained that the country does not require full-time legislators who earn more salaries than the President of the United States and Russia as well as the Prime Ministers of India and Britain.

He said only credible people, who are ready to serve and receive small allowances, should serve as part-time legislators.

Soyinka called for security in the country, saying that he objected to the enactment of different and arbitrary laws.

He described the Gboko Haram violence as a product of negligence, complacency and complicity of those in government, who have created allies they could no longer control.

Soyinka said: "When people spend all their times scheming for an unconstitutional third term in office, then, they seek allies and they fail to condemn and punish when prospective allies act in a way that break the constitution. They appease them simply because they want to stay in power. These are not friends of people; they are not friends of humanity. They are traitors to the cause of humanity.

"President Jonathan has no choice than to tackle the problems headlong in a comprehensive, holistic manner, not piecemeal. Otherwise, I greatly fear for the continuity of the nation. The moment one reaches a point where he cannot allow his son to go any part of the country; the nation has already failed as a nation."

He emphasised that his views on these matters represented the views of majority of Nigerians, who have expressed concern about national security.

Soyinka congratulated the people of Ogun State for redeeming themselves from the PDP, urging those who would take over the baton on May 29 to return the state to the path of honour.

He added: "This is an address to the people of Ogun State. At long last, you have redeemed yourselves. I have

been very shocked and disappointed at the docility of the people of Ogun State in accepting that their house of parliament is shut down illegally, disorderly, shabblishly by the out-going government of Ogun State, headed by one ‘Daani elebo’, who brought fetish into the government of the state. He is the son of his political father.

"Nobody expected this. But we were fooled at the beginning. I was among them. And when we tried to correct this situation, this character, ‘Daani elebo’, was adamant. I congratulate the people of Ogun State for redeeming themselves a little, although that stigma that they tolerated them for so long will be there, especially the closure of the House of Assembly, the voices of the people, although some of them were not elected, but got there through manipulation by the master mafia, the former President of the Federation.

"I thank them for not making me to sell my house in Ogun State and relocate somewhere else. That is what I would have done, if they have not chased the ‘Daani elebo’ gang from Ogun State and humiliated his father. So, it is a new beginning for the people of Ogun State.

"There is no perfect person who does not have a baggage in their history, but I think those elected have an opportunity to restore the state to its former condition, to the days when individuals like Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti led the charge against the colonial powers because of their feudal excesses, when I was a little boy. Ogun State has always been the gateway to democracy. It is about time we re-open those gates and chase out those fetish people and criminals, some of who still have to answer for some murders, especially the murder of Dipo Dina, and other murders".

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