The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Soyinka

  • Comment

    Comment

    For Segun Gbadegesin

     

    On Africa’s trauma epidemic, the question to be asked is: Do we have any organized system? The answer is no! Mention any sector. One thing is certain, the world will not respect you for your age but your accomplishment. Our rulers should rethink! From Chief Adebayo Bashiru, Ibadan

    I am in panic over 2015 election. I sympathise with the citizens for being subjected to extreme poverty. Anonymous

    On “Soyinka of Africa”, I agree completely that we got it wrong the moment we abandoned our values as a people. Thanks! From Paul Onoja, Garki, Abuja

    Re: Soyinka of Africa. What else does anybody expect from the literature master? He defends the poor, the defenceless and the cheated and, of course, the Blacks of Africa. May he live long as he has been serving as the balancing factor among the oppressors in Nigeria and beyond. From Lanre Oseni

    African states and people have been in self wars before the colonial masters came. Have we forgotten the tribal wars that existed before the colonial period? Other continents have fought wars for resources and religion, and are still fighting till date. But the difference is that no one commits crime and goes free. Terrorism and religious wars are a global menace. Our major problem in Africa is lack of law enforcement and social injustice. From Henry, Gwagwalada, Abuja

     

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    Thank you for your comment on Akhigbe. I never knew he had a running battle with the press least of all The Guardian. I remember Akhigbe as the governor of old Ondo State who not only hated Ekiti people, but also demonstrated his hatred in a grotesque way. An Ekiti man, the late Ayo Ogundele, was appointed the first Ekiti indigene Head of the State Civil Service. His tenure lasted 10 days. Returning from a trip to Dodan Barracks, the seat of the Federal Government, the helicopter carrying Akhigbe and Ayo Ogundele landed at the Government House grounds. He put his hand gently on Ayo’s shoulder and told him that he was no more his Head of Service from that moment. From that moment Ayo did not only lose his position as Head of Service but also as Permanent Secretary. There were 10 HOS before Ekiti State was created in 1996. We have since forgiven Akhigbe. From Deji Fasuan, Ado-Ekiti

    Once you have the desire to leave your environment better than you met it, people will always remember you. What you will leave behind is your memory, either good or bad. If we consider the havoc done to the country by top military officers who ruled from 1966 to1999, very few people will mourn the demise of the late “property mogul” and “a significant player in the nation’s oil and gas industry.” From imposed unitary system later fraudulently called federal constitution, to Land Use Act, Structural Adjustment Programme, annulment of ‘June 12’ election and the killing of MKO Abiola, every move they made was charged with negativity. Today, it feels like a weight has been lifted off the shoulders of the country. From Adegoke O. O., Ikhin, Edo State

    Every human’s first assignment is to protect his position on every issue that is beneficial to him. With particular reference to a Nigerian in poltical office, Akhigbe’s reaction to your view points on his envisaged failed programmes, as military governor of Lagos State, was nothing unusual. It is a norm in polity. You must thank Macebuh for his intervention and your star for having a brawl with Akhigbe and not a human beast in military garb. Your testimonies in “Near-encounters with Akhigbe” would have been by another columnist. One interesting part was how Akhigbe reported The Gaurdian Newspaper and your case to Aikhomu; on tribal grounds. And those were the people claiming to make Nigeria a united country then. The earlier we told the truth about this country, the better for unborn generations of Nigerians, God hear our prayers, Amen. From Lai Ashadele

    This is a real glimpse into the past, the evil and the good that men do live after them but let the living learn their lessons. For Vice Admiral Okhai Mike Akhigbe, may his soul rest in perfect peace. From Biyi Adesanya, Ring Road, Ibadan

    Re: Near-encounters with Mike Akhigbe. I found it difficult to understand why journalists were enemies of the military rulers, even under civilian administration. Then, perhaps he wanted to excel to get higher positions which, of course, he got. However, you journalists write against your masters’ perceived enemies and even see yourselves as the political opponents to your masters’ opponents just like your tabloid does to the favour of your masters and their colleagues and against the ruling party/president, why? Sometimes, you need some checks. From Lanre Oseni

    “Near-encounters with Mike Akhigbe”. Mrs. Josephine Akhigbe could not have been proprietor, being of the female gender. Methinks the correct word should have been proprietress. From Kayode Ogungbuyi

    To avoid all mistakes in the conduct of a great enterprise, empirical knowledge confirms, is beyond man. But when mistakes are made, to use its reverse as a lesson is part of what makes a good and responsible leader. It is naturaly difficult serving as a leader in a society or government without offending people – groups or individuals. Akhigbe, like his ilk in the government, must have stepped on the toes of many while in office. But the problem is that most of them would never want to accept their mistakes even long after they have left the service. Some of our military/political leaders would actually be remembered more for the type of stupendous wealth they amassed while in government than how much they contributed to the transformation of the existing realities for a better Nigerian society. To them, the people can only have their say, while the leaders would always have their way. It boggles the mind. From Emmanuel Egwu

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    In Nigeria, we have a twin culture of immunity and impunity. They may be latent or manifest all the same. The closer you are to power the more you exercise them. The Professor’s death is one of the many exampls of this culture. It is unfortunate. From Momoh S.

    It is annoying and disgusting that such a bright star could die like that; it shows, once again, the deplorabe behaviour and negligence of our elected officers who see government as their personal estate. From James E.

    The president, Bamanga Tukur, and his cabinet members deserve 2013 Honours for the ‘ruin of law’ and shielding corrupt officers in his cabinet. The best honour should go to Tukur and Oduah. According to Mr. President, he is not bothered about the happenings in the country because Nigerians will honour him when he leaves. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos

    Thanks for your write-up “Iyayi and a governor’s killer convoy”. Please, help us advocate that convoys comply with speed limits. ASUU should sue Wada for killing Iyayi. May God give his family the fortitude to bear the loss. Anonymous

    Only God can save this nation! I do not know why the goverment is wasting the lives of its citizen. Assuming there was no ASUU strike there would not have been any reason for Iyayi to die accidentially. Though all of us will die one day, but Iyayi might not have died now. I pray to God to be with his family. From Bayo, FEDPOFFA

    This is pathetic! I wonder what the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) is doing to the killer convoy driver. Government officials are not above the law. May God help Nigeria. Anonymous

    I deeply sympathise with the family of Iyayi. However, do you know the number of Nigerian students who lost their lives because of ASUU strike? A few months ago, some journalists died in a fatal accident on Ife Road but their colleagues did not stop work. Why couldn’t ASUU fix a new date for the meeting? A lecturer wants to remain in service for 70 years, what will the students he is graduating every year do? Anonymous

    Madness characterises governors’ convoy. But the question is: who is chasing after them and must they be on high speed always? God have mercy. From C. Ohiri

    The killing of Iyayi by one of the cars in the convoy of Wada is regrettable. Ordinarily, the governor would have been removed and prosecuted. Wada has become an embarassment to the political class. Anonymous

    I wonder why African leaders are killing their people with greed and bad governance, while natural disaster kills people of other continent. I felt for lyayi, President Goodluck and Kogi Governor should have a rethink. One day, a good leader will emerge in Nigeria and Africa, and take us to the promised land. From Henry, Gwagwalada Abuja.

    Re-Iyayi and a governor’s killer convoy. Some members of staff of the FRSC must have graduated after passing through the tutelage of Prof. Iyayi. But, somehow, they are helpless. The truth is that Nigerian rulers and their ignorant servants don’t submit to the rule of law. Governor Wada is known for high (pilot) motion but tragic movement. We thank God, Prof. Iyayi, though painful, has escaped from an indisplined, confused and disobedient Nigerian rulership. May his soul rest in peace. From L .O .David.

    Can the Federal Government of Nigeria buy Festus Iyayi’s soul for N600b? God, please, fight for Nigerian masses. From kenny@LGEA Kosofe

    Don’t worry, these ‘awardees’ should be thanking their stars that they are trampling on our laws and getting away with it because they have one of their own as the number one citizen of the country. A day will come when the much-abused laws of the land will begin to enforce themselves on the country. There is a limit to which people can hold out on social injustice and victimisation. My prayer is that God would not allow our so-called leaders to keep ignoring dangerous signals starring everybody in the face. With men like Tukur, Jang, Joseph Mbu and others in positions of authority, no national dialogue can save our country. It is only strict obedience to the rule of law that builds and ensures steady improvement of a society, not politicising every issue, including people’s lives and safety. From Ifeanyi O.Ifeanyi,Abuja.

    We in ASUU are aggrieved and we hold the President, Dr. Ebele Jonathan and Governor Wada responsible for Prof. Iyayi’s death. If Jonathan had “done the needful” by honouring the 2009 agreement and fixed the Abuja-Okene Highway, there would have been no need for that fatal journey. If Wada’s driver was more careful, there wouldn’t have been any accident. Anonymous

    I am very sorry over this loss, but it would have been averted if Asuu had not taken the strike too long. After all, the government has shifted ground yet Asuu insisted. I am sorry but have we learnt any lesson? May God accept his soul. From Ik MinaJ.

     

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: Bad news from Ghana’. The late General Sani Abacha once said mere intention to stage coup and carrying out a coup carries the same penalty! Ghanaian madam minister’s intention to reach her $1million mark as minister before calling it quits matters. Public funds? I commend Ghana’s President Mahama for firing the minister. That is why I said everything in Nigeria must not be democratised! Certain offences must be dealt with instantly. Whoever criticises Ghana’s president’s action criticises own better life. From Lanre Oseni.

    I detected the irony in sarcasm in your write-up. Nice piece. Anonymous.

    Tunji, why have you not mentioned that the Lagos State Speaker should have resigned for the fact that he is in court over corruption? Why is Farouk Lawan still in the NASS? Are you also aware that the ‘Western’ press controlled by you people were paid N1billion plus to carry on this war against this lady? Your news paper was the first to publish the report of the NASS investigation indicting her. Let’s be careful. Anonymous.

    ‘Bad news from Ghana’ … a beautiful one from you … but you forgot the fact that the IGP would have been mandated to explain the source of that leakage! Thanks all the same. Anonymous.

    Our government has set up a Federal Ministry of Committee Affairs and we are appointing you as the minister in charge. Congratulations on behalf of GEJ team! Anonymous.

    You are the nincompoop, not Mahama. One day, Nemesis will visit you and your devilishly corrupt mentors like (?) Jonathan.

    I don’t know how to thank you on your comment on page 13 of The Nation on Sunday of November 17 titled ‘Bad news from Ghana’. More grease to your elbow. I just finished reading your comment; I truly love your write-up. Our president needs to go to Ghana and learn how to fight corruption instead of speaking big grammar. We need action. When you have a Samson as president, what will you expect? May the Almighty God bless you, protect you and give you more wisdom, knowledge and understanding in Jesus’ name (Amen) From Winning S. King, Port Harcourt.

    How I wish President Mahama is Nigeria’s president, all these acts of corruption in governance and other social vices would have become a thing of the past. The Stella Oduah issue should have been rested with her sack over alleged corruption concerning the two bullet-proof cars. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    Hilarious bad news from Ghana. I wish for a Nigerian president one day. Anonymous.

    Sir, hope people have not started to crucify you for your article ‘Bad news from Ghana’? It was satire at its best. Thanks sir. Anonymous.

     

  • Soyinka Of Africa

    Soyinka Of Africa

    He is a pride of Africa and he wrote Of Africa, a magisterial text that has captured the imagination of young and old across the continent and the Diaspora, including my College of Arts and Sciences students at Howard University. And on penultimate Tuesday, they and the university community welcomed the Nobel Laureate to the Mecca of Africana scholarship. And it was vintage WS. Soyinka never disappoints and he didn’t disappoint his audience.

    It was not Soyinka’s first visit to Howard. But it was his first on the basis of his book being chosen as the common text of the year, and it was electric. Of course, it wasn’t difficult for anyone to identify him with his signature hair style as an identity marker. Students accosted him on the yard even before the programme, wanting photo sessions or autographs. For all the sessions, including student presentations on the book, it was standing room only. He gave his main lecture in the ballroom which seats at least 400, but it was streamed live to an auditorium that sits 1,000 more. As they say, it is in his home that the prophet has no honor.

    My college chose Of Africa as the Common Text for First Year Students this year. In recommending the text, the committee noted that “Of Africa is, at once, readily accessible to students and artistically imaginative, conceptually complex, and improvisational in ways that distinguish it from other academic texts, especially with regard to raising issues of continuity and change among populations in the African world. It is one of the most imaginative combinations of concepts from Africa and its Diaspora to appear in recent memory. Of Africa also builds on Howard’s commitment to help students assign equal status for Africa and global Africans as agents of cultural and political acts of recovery and takes this consideration one step further, calling for a consideration of what Soyinka calls the proper valuation of the “dynamic commodity” of African ways of knowing and being in the world. This conversation has the potential to trigger countless conversations on what it means to be African anywhere in the world.”

    The attraction of the book is simple. Howard University is conscious of its origin and its mission. Back in 1927,President Mordecai Wyatt Johnson pressed the point that “along with the training of the individual to render specific professional service, it is absolutely necessary that there shall go studies to fit a man (or woman) sympathetically to understand the kind of country that he (or she) is living in, the progress that the countryhas made, the direction in which it is moving, the nature of the institutions with which he (or she) has to deal, and the relations and possibilities of his own people to his (her) government and to the progress of his (her) country.The ultimate goal is to endeavor to develop a country that shall have a deep sense of community and of brotherly cooperation.”

    In the same inaugural address, while drawing attention to the subordination of Africa to European powers, Johnson raised the question whether “the United States is going to follow this European practice, or whether there is going to arise in this place a country so deeply convinced of the possibilities of humanity that it is willing to keep its self-control, while having no relations with even the weakest of peoples except such as it can justify in the light of its deepest conscience, and while committed to none but a purely open and aboveboard practice of brotherliness to all men and to all countries of the earth.”This emphasis on “the possibilities of humanity” has been the driving force of Howard as an institution of higher learning.

    In the opening paragraph of the text, Soyinka poses the question that focuses his attention throughout the book: What does the continent known as Africa possess that the rest—or a greater part—of the globe does not have already in superabundance? As a guide to an adequate answer, he suggests that we not limit ourselves to “material or inert possessions—such as mineral resources, tourist landscapes, (and) strategic locations..” For we also have “dynamic possessions—ways of perceiving, responding, adapting, or simply doing that vary from people to people, including structures of human relationships.”

    But, of course, we have not been silent over these positive attributes of motherland, and certainly our diaspora brethren have been in the forefront of proclaiming the ancient glory of Africa as well as its future potentials even in these dreadful times. If only we can get rid of the human vampires that continue to suck its blood and the political raccoons that vandalise and drain it of resources that it drastically needs for development and redemption. So, yes, we cannot ignore the negatives: the unpredictable and irrational violence that engulfs the continent every now and then, and feeds the insatiable appetite of the world media outlets for sorry stories from and of Africa.

    “Ultimately, however,” Soyinka urges, “it is its humanity, the quality and valuation of its own existence, and modes of managing its environment—both physical and intangible (which includes spiritual)—that remain the primary, incontestable assets to which any society can lay claim or offer as unique contributions to the attainments of the world.”This is the theme of the book; it is what Soyinka interrogates with copious references to African spiritual heritage.

    Africa’s original humanity has never been in doubt. It is the subject of treatises and sometimes an overblown embellishment bordering on unjustifiable romanticism. Yet it cannot be denied that there was/is a certain sense of community that serves traditional societies well with individual members having a sense of purpose and sharing a common meaning of what it was/is to be a human being in the community.

    The harmonious coexistence in such traditional and (contemporary rural) communities still strikes us as alien in our present circumstance of ego-driven and material-obsessed existence. It is therefore no surprise, but nonetheless ironic, that having identified Africa’s humanity as its asset, the symbols of the inhumanity that has plagued Africa in the last few decades, including Rwanda, Darfur, and of course, Boko Haram, feature prominently in Soyinka’s text.Indeed, Rwanda, as paradigm for a continent was the topic of his lecture. There is truly “a chameleonic” identity to Africa, to paraphrase Soyinka’s apt description.

    The transition from an original humanity to the current inhumanity must have an enabler, if not a causal agent. One of my student presenters posed the question to Soyinka: where did the rain start beating us? In other words, where did we veer off the road of humanity? How can we explain the irrational violence in the name of religion when our folks have always coexisted in multiple religion households, exchanging gifts and partaking in communal feats during different religious festivals? And how does difference about political ideas and ideals concerning the welfare of the people and development of the community end up in violence when communities have always had their process of identifying and appointing their rulers and settling issues by consensus?

    Of course, the answer is simple and Soyinka zeroed in on it: we veered off path of humanity the moment we accepted the superiority of other people’s ways of life over and above our own and we went on to become their champions. Gbee ru mii wa deleru (“We were requested to help lift a luggage off the ground; but we took over the burden of carrying it.) In the process, we abandon our values. That explains Boko Haram. It explains Darfur. And that was Rwanda, to where WS flew after his lecture.

  • Justice is never siddon look, says Soyinka

    Justice is never siddon look, says Soyinka

    Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka yesterday warned against impunity and disrespect for the rule of law.

    He also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to be careful about the proposed National Conference.

    He said the past and issues being raised about the conference must be taken into consideration.

    He queried the government’s commitment to anti-corruption campaign.

    Soyinka, who spoke at a book launch in honour of the retiring President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, said justice is the foundation of humanity.

    The book, a compendium of Salami’s judgments, is authored by Mrs. Funmi Quadri.

    In his address entitled, “Justice is never siddon look,” Soyinka said there must be justice for all whether rich or poor.

    He said: “I declare, I quote justice is the first foundation of humanity. At all times, law, even where it is temporary unskilled, emasculated, predominates, written or unwritten, law embodies the total will of the society Yes, law exercises an authority that transcends mere power. That is why we must task those whosoever is administrator of law with an ethical rigour, a measure that is paramount perhaps by only whatsoever the society expects of medical doctors who minister to the people’s physical and mental health or religious ministers who are preoccupied with the requirements of the spirit.

    “Governors are blindly selective to what court orders they obey and President becomes completely deaf or blind to judicial orders.

    “And that question is this: what is the role of the rest of us the in between humanity, while that cry for justice, awaits the arrival of chariot of law in its awesome majesty. Do we adopt literarily that often misunderstood commentary of Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the nation, the very figure whose butchery constitute my reference for today’s retrospection. Do we fold our hands and literarily siddon look? Most of the time it does appear that we have no option when justice appears to fail even his own immediate high echelon

    He revisited some unresolved assassinations including that of the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige,.

    He called on the Federal Government to address these murders claiming that there are enough clues which could lead to the unraveling of these killings.

    He observed that while injustices were being perpetrated by the privileged and those in power state agencies had been putting suspects on trial for forging documents to get visa.

    On the proposed national conference, he asked the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to tread softly.

    He said he should look at the past and consider issues being raised.

    He added: “Yes, many have warned, they have warned tirelessly and in various forms become deafened by the sound of their voice as it bounces back from the stones walls of a different complacency and sometimes criminality and complicity. The most notorious example of this today is of course the so called national conference.

    “As many other propositions, the social context which is ever changing may provide avenue of fresh thinking but the stark truth is that all have been said cogently and relevantly. However, sometime it appears that the stone that the builders rejected etc, I think you know the rest, the question however is whether or not the optimism of those scripture(the Christian) is right and that this rejected stone often abusively dismissed indeed prove to be the corner stone of new modesty viable edifice.

    “However, even a child knows that before the erection of a simple farmhouse, the ground, large or small has to be cleared, the debris burnt or plough back into the ground while it is converted into entirely new matter composed or disposed of in such a manner that it loses its earlier capacity to obstruct, compromise or endanger the new organism. Those who think they can erect a future without first ridding the ground of the past debris flout against natural order or regeneration.”

    The Nobel Laureate added: “Of all the conceivable negative baggage I can think of right now, the most pressing, I have always maintained, takes the form of a critical absence, subversion or suppression of – Justice. One of the elementary lessons we all learnt from school, even those of us with incurably unscientific minds, is that – Nature abhors a vacuum. In the absence of justice, something else takes its place, a monstrosity in myriad forms and shapes, fecund with yet unencountered horrors – indeed even as the portals of Justice are shut, the lid of a Pandora’s box is opened. These are not mere figures of speech but narratives of experienced reality. No society is exempt, and no one experience is unique. They all differ in form, intensity and duration – no more.

    “How have we fared, within this environment that most immediately sustains us – well, sort of? I shall evoke here one of the most notorious public profile cases of the serial degradations of Justice that seemingly shook this nation to its foundations. There are other cases we could cite – the murder of Dele Giwa for instance. Or Harry Marshall. Kudirat Abiola. Suliat Adedeji. A.K. Dikibo. Abukakar Rimi. Barnabas and Abigail Igwe, husband and wife, both officers of the law. Or Chief Dina – lest I stand accused of omitting my own homestead. Or indeed numerous others, so quickly relegated into the sump of unsolved cases. My choice today, the main reference point for our sobering retrospection is however singularly apt. Despite his terminal absence, that preeminent victim shares with our celebrant, albeit in a tragic mode, the ironic symbolism of ‘Justice in Denial’, a role that interrogates both the very concept and operations of Justice, and also, the main structure for its delivery, which is – the Judiciary. No one will question the seismic impact of the circumstances that took him from our midst, a dastardly deed which, as already claimed, shook the nation to its very foundations. However, the nation did not topple over – from all appearances. Nonetheless, I am reminded of the condition of Washington ‘Cleopatra’s Needle’ which dominates the zone of the seat of US government – Capitol Hill. When Washington underwent an unprecedented earthquake in 2011, quite mild in comparison with those that regularly hit the other side of the continent – California especially – that nation gave a sigh of relief that very little damage had been done. As we all know however, nations like the United States do not rest satisfied with appearances. Visible or not, internal damages – that very possibility – preoccupied the guardians of public monuments and safety.”

  • Soyinka’s Nobel Prize at 27

    Soyinka’s Nobel Prize at 27

    The immortal words of Elbert Hubbard aptly describe the literary liberation of a country and continent reputed to be an habitat for illiteracy. Hubbard said: “The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”

    Prof Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka won the coveted Nobel Prize in Literature in October 1986. Thus, he became the first African and Nigerian to be awarded the much-respected prize.

    Soyinka had his first play, A Dance of the Forest, published in the late 1950s and since then he has been engraving the yet-to-be-mined African literary treasury on the pages of world literature. With his grey beard and hair, Soyinka’s literary prominence soars like a bizarre hunter, becoming the giant of creative minds in our history.

    The prize was a glorious dawn, especially at a time in Africa when fate was being worshiped as a god and failure was seen as the compulsory cover page of any book coming out of the African literary and arts factory. The Abeokuta-born playwright confirms the words of George Bernard Shaw, who said: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” Soyinka’s feat has motivated Africa’s upcoming writers.

    However, celebrating Soyinka’s Nobel Prize at 27 when our campuses are shut because of strike seems to be not-so-good news for Nigeria. Do we know how many Soyinkas Nigeria could have produced had its education system functioned properly?

    Singapore education system has been described as one of the best in the world. Surprisingly, one would have expected bulky curricula like we have in Nigeria but no. According to the homepage of the Singaporean Ministry of Education, the country has been moving in towards a system that is flexible and diverse. The aim is to provide students with greater choice to meet the current reality. Being able to choose what and how they learn will encourage their students to be more knowledgeable. But we are lagging behind.

    Joseph Addision says: “Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate, no despotism can enslave.” Without education, what would become of a man? He would be a slave of knowledge; his reasoning would be savagery.

    But in Nigeria, we seem to be seeing opportunity in illiteracy. For four months, the lecturers have gone on strike. Students are complaining, parents are not happy but government and lecturers seem not concerned. Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) boasts of four-month strike, but can we, undergraduates, boast of four-months of individual intellectual development?

    Four months of having not reading any books. Four months of being out of the classroom. Four months of having not attending life-changing seminars. Four months of waste in our education system. Four months of not thinking big ideas! When the strike is eventually called off, are we not going to celebrate four months of academic indolence?

    But out of this, we should be hopeful with the feat of the likes of Soyinka whose achievements have continued to inspire right-thinking youths. May God continue to spare his life and make him an inspiration to the next generation of writers that will take the country to high places.

    To every aspiring writer, match your inspiration with necessary perspiration, for inspiration without perspiration is a daydream; perspiration without inspiration is a night mare. A greater Soyinka is in you; but are you willing to pay a greater price than Soyinka paid?

     

    •Opeoluwa, 400-Level Law, OAU Ile-Ife

     

  • Terror attack: I was not in Kenya, Soyinka

    Terror attack: I was not in Kenya, Soyinka

    NOBEL laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has objected to the headline of yesterday’s front page story in The Nation newspapers titled “How I escaped Nairobi attack, Soyinka”.

    Calling the headline sensationalist, disrespectful and reductionist, he said it left a false impression on the minds of casual readers, and banalised both the purpose and tenor of the memorial reading session held in honour of the late Ghanaian poet, Kofi Awoonor.

    His statement:

    How disappointing and distressful to encounter in The Nation newspapers your sensationalist headline “HOW I ESCAPED KENYA TERRORIST ATTACK” – Saturday Sept 28th.

    This purports to be an extract or summation of my contribution to the event dedicated to the passing of our colleague, Kofi Awoonor! To have that headline framed in a way that attributed such a sentiment to me is an additional affront – disrespectful and reductionist.

    The circumstances of the Nairobi outrage, the grave issues surrounding this pattern of human negativity, and the stature of Kofi Awoonor in whose honour we were gathered – which constituted the core of my address – deserve worthier treatment than this.

    You extended the same attention-grabbing headline into page 59, even though the now transmitted remarks cannot, by any standard of journalism, be held to justify such a lurid bunting. “Escaped attack!” – your journal is entitled to your own deductions, but it is highly immoral and unprincipled to attempt to attribute such sentiments to me.

    Writers, and the cause of literature, especially at such an occasion, deserve better than this. The full text of my address easily indicts your choice – on whatever level – and with any reader of average literacy. However, you will have left a false impression on the minds of casual readers, and banalised both the purpose and tenor of that gathering. You will have sold a few extra copies of your paper but – is this all that journalism is about? Have we now abandoned all notion of ‘responsible journalism’ on the altar of sales figures?

     

  • How I escaped Nairobi attack — Soyinka

    How I escaped Nairobi attack — Soyinka

    Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said that the late Ghanaian diplomat and poet, Kofi Awoonor and himself could have been together at the Storymoja/Hay Literature Festival held in Nairobi, Kenya.

    He said he was invited to the same festival but could not attend.

    Awoonor was killed by terrorists last Saturday at the Westgate Shopping Mall shooting in Nairobi.

    Soyinka said two commitments: a public conversation with a very brave individual, Karima Bennoune, an Algerian national, whose trenchant publication – Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here, and the annual conference of international investigators in Tunis, were responsible for his inability to attend the festival.

    He said: “My absence was particularly regrettable, because I had planned to make up for my failure to turn up for the immediate prior edition. Participant or absentee however, this is one edition we shall not soon forget. It was at least two days after the listing of Kofi Awoonor among the victims that I even recollected the fact that the Festival was ongoing at that very time.

    “With that realisation came another: that Kofi and I could have been splitting a bottle at that same watering hole in between events and at the end of each day. My feelings, I wish to state clearly, did not undergo any changes. The emotions of rage, hate and contempt remained on the same qualitative and quantitative levels,” he added.

    Soyinka spoke in Lagos yesterday during a memorial reading session tagged Humanity and Against and held in honour of the late Ghanaian poet.

    He described the late Awoonor as a passionate African who gave primacy of place to values derived from his Ewe heritage. “That, in turn, means that he was thoroughly imbued with the spirit of ecumenism towards other systems of belief and cultural usages – this being the scriptural ethos that permeates belief practices of most of this continent. We mourn our colleague and brother, but first, we denounce his killers, the virulent sub-species of humanity who bathe their hands in innocent blood,” he added.

    Renowned poet, Prof JP Clark explained why Soyinka and himself were not at the funeral of the late Chinua Achebe at Ogidi, Anambra State, blaming it on politicians that hijacked the funeral. He noted that Prof Soyinka and himself did not sit and plot action on whether or not to attend Achebe’s funeral in Ogidi.

    “Politicians hijacked the Achebe’s funeral. I said to myself, if there is life after death, Achebe would be laughing at the politicians. So, writers could not have found a space in Achebe’s funeral. From the President to the Governors, they hijacked it,” he noted.

    Clark said critics might be wondering why a memorial is being held in honour of Awoonor in Lagos unlike when Chinua Achebe died.

    President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Prof Remi Raji, who read from his collection of poems, The Fire Next Time, said of the late Ghanaian poet: “African literature has indeed lost an influential voice. The name, Kofi Awoonor, was very present in our minds as young students. Though I never met him in person, his writings have been influential. The ANA has sent a condolence letter to the Ghana authority. Today’s memorial is very instructive. His death is a reflection of the urban barbarisms in the globe today.”

    Other scholars who read excerpts at the memorial were Prof Kole Omotoso, Prof Femi Osofisan, Dr. Wale Okediran and Lola Shoneyin.

  • Youths to honour Tinubu, Soyinka, Okorocha, others

    Youths to honour Tinubu, Soyinka, Okorocha, others

    The Grand Council of Yoruba Youths (formerly National Council of Yoruba Youths) will begin the third edition of its seven-day leadership summit on Sunday.

    The summit is to mark the Yoruba National Day (September 23).

    The programme will end with a Dinner/Award Night on September 28. It will be chaired by former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who will be honoured with the Life time Achievement Award in Politics.

    Also to be honoured are Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola; Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka; Globacom Chairman Mike Adenuga; activist lawyer Femi Falana (SAN); Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN); Aare Afe Babalola (SAN); Chief Olu Falae; Chief Bisi Akande; Senator Chris Ngige; Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha; Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu; Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda; Senator David Mark and Mrs. H.I.D. Awolowo, among others.

    The award will be held at the Centre for Black Arts and Culture, Osogbo, Osun State, by 5pm. Gen Alani Akinrinade is the father of the day. The Alaafin of Oyo is the royal father of the day.

    Public lectures will be delivered by Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu; Prof. Bolanle Awe and Chief. Folake Solanke (SAN) on September 24 at the Centre for Black Arts and Culture, Osogbo.

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi is the special guest of honour at the lectures.

    There will be a Youth Interactive Session with Houses of Assembly in the Southwest on September 25. An arts exhibition, fashion parade and cultural dance competition will hold on September 27.

    The group, which came into existence in October, 2001, aims to promote unity, peace, stability and development in Yorubaland.

     

  • Enteries for Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature open

    Enteries for Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature open

    Chairman, Tanus Communications and founding Chairman of Lumina Foundation, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, has called on corporate Nigerians and individuals to give moral and financial support to the sustenance of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature.

    He said the biennial award organised by Lumina Foundation is getting bigger each year and its standard must be sustained.

    The winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature goes home with $20,000.

    Ogunbiyi spoke in Lagos yesterday while commiserating with families and media houses on last week’s death of some executive members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in a motor accident.

    The chairman of the foundation, Mrs. Francesca Yetunde Emanuel, announced the call for entries for the fifth edition of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature holding on July 5, next year. She said the genre for the 2014 prize is drama, adding that any published play or collection of plays by an author of African descent published within the two years preceding the year of the prize (2012 and 2013) is eligible.

    She said based on the judges’ recommendation, the Board of Trustees of the foundation chose drama for the fifth edition which coincides with Soyinka’s birthday and that he is well known for. She hinted that plans are underway to increase the cash prize from $20,000 in next edition.

    Mrs. Emanuel explained that each year, starting from next year, the prize will rotate through the following genres, published play or collection of plays by a single author, published collection of poetry by a single author and published novels by a single author.

    The Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature is a biennial award for the best literary work produced by an African, and has been serving as an African equivalent of the Nobel prize, particularly in recognising and encouraging professional and personal excellence.

     

  • Of leaders and dealers: Soyinka Vs Clark

    Of leaders and dealers: Soyinka Vs Clark

    A community with worthy elders never comes to ruin – Yoruba proverb 

    When do elders morph from leaders to dealers?

    The latest foxtrot on the Rivers crisis, by the South-South Elders and Stakeholders, a group led by Pa Edwin Clark, Ijaw leader and presidential godfather, might just offer a clue.

    The Clark-led elders, on July 24, told Governor Chibuike Amaechi to stop blaming President Goodluck Jonathan and Patience, his ever-meddling wife, for the contrived Rivers crisis; told the governor to shape in or shape out; told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to kick out the governor to serve as warning to other power renegades; pooh-poohed the four northern governors that went on a solidarity visit to Amaechi as cynical meddlers; and branded Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as an arch-hypocrite who wept more than the bereaved at the legislative banditry of the Rivers G-5, while he kept mute in earlier legislative outlawry in Oyo (where Governor Rashidi Ladoja was illegally impeached) and Soyinka’s native Ogun State (when Governor Gbenga Daniel inspired legislative lawlessness in his gubernatorial dying days).

    Indeed, they practically did a pun on the famous author of The Man Died and his work: that the man died in the Nobel Laureate for his alleged quiet at constitutional outrages in Oyo and Ogun states; while jerking awake at the repeat of the same crime in their Rivers!

    But, of course, Clark and his “elders”, in their release, never bothered with the rigour of reason. All they barked, conceited folks, was the language of power, boasting neither wisdom nor reason.

    The whole thing was some dumb smartie’s response to the five northern governors’ “Save Democracy tour” to former President Olusegun Obasanjo (Jonathan’s estranged godfather), Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, three former soldiers ironically pitched to help save democracy under Jonathan’s reckless assault!

    But again, the Clark gambit was a classic from the brilliant dullness of the Jonathan court: no tactics, no strategy, just stark power blundering and bumbling!

    Even then, if the so-called elders wilfully lost a bit of their wisdom in anticipation of some power gravy, can’t their young Turks at least work hard to safeguard the integrity of their claims?

    The Clark group made the fantastic claim that Soyinka kept mute during the legislative anomie in Oyo and Ogun states. But this claim is either criminal forgetfulness or plain mischief.

    On the Ladoja illegal impeachment, Soyinka called for Obasanjo’s impeachment, linking the Oyo legislative crisis to his complicity – just as Jonathan’s link to the present Rivers affront is crystal clear.

    “Obasanjo has acted sufficiently against the constitution to warrant his impeachment,” Soyinka declared on 20 January 2006. “There is more than enough evidence to warrant his impeachment”.

    That was even a case of 18 (a simple majority) removing the governor in a 32-member legislature, which nevertheless fell short of the constitutionally required two-thirds majority: not a case of Rivers’ “simple minority” of five versus 27! AFP, with Nigerian newspapers, reported the Soyinka stand.

    On the Gbenga Daniel legislative shenanigans in Ogun, where the minority G-9 overthrew the majority G-15, Soyinka was no less hard-hitting. “I wish to state, categorically, this cannot and must not be allowed to stand. I call on the citizens of the state to ensure democracy is restored. A minority” he insisted, “cannot sack a majority”.

    Indeed, since Soyinka’s famous “Daani Elebo” laconic putdown, he had visited every OGD misdeed with ringing condemnation, including dismissing OGD’s as “government by billboard”.

    But where was Clark’s beloved presidential godson in all of these? Feigned culpable disinterest enough to name and retain Daniel as his South West presidential campaign coordinator! For Jonathan, it was, it is and ever shall be: to win and keep power, every constitutional breach is tolerable!

    All these were in the public space. They are eminently verifiable with a push of the computer keyboard. Yet, Clark and his elders made such an outlandish claim! Might these elders suffer criminal senility, just to patch up the ultra-bad case of their beloved godson?

    Even if Soyinka had kept mum: does that justify the criminality in the Rivers Assembly of five (with a fake mace to boot!) trying to overthrow the will of 27, simply because of collusion from Jonathan’s Nigeria Police? That is the futility and hollow arrogance of power, while these so-called South-South elders ought to have built their case on rigour and reason. It falls flat – even in the ears of the dumb!

    But Soyinka was right: if Obasanjo had been impeached for the Ladoja outrage or Jonathan seriously reprimanded for playing dumb, for electoral gain, on the OGD-inspired Ogun legislative crime, this nonsense would not have repeated itself; and the Clark “elders” would not ridicule themselves with woolly thinking to back constitutional evil.

    But maybe it is good Jonathan is pushing his good luck. And maybe, if he pushes it enough, he just might be impeached to avert any future presidential rascality! Did these elders ever think of this dire possibility?

    Really, it is amusing Clark of all people would doubt Soyinka’s total commitment to a Nigeria driven by equity, justice and fair play, and not arbitrary power. Indeed, when Soyinka landed in Ibadan in 1969, after his Civil War Kaduna incarceration, his first response to the war-time jingle, “To keep Nigeria One …” was a snappy riposte: “Justice must be done!”

    A younger Clark was busy collaborating with the same northern forces he now wants to demonise, to willy-nilly protect his godson – a power he doesn’t even have. But that is the way of Nigeria’s power men and women of all seasons!

    Soyinka comes from a diametrically opposed culture: justice men and women of all seasons. And names like Obafemi Awolowo, Tai Solarin, Ayodele Awojobi, Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana – do they ring a bell? They stand for justice and fair play and would battle anyone, no matter where he comes from, even within their own Yoruba stock, that essays impunity.

    So those orchestrated merchants of vulgar abuse, who claim the Yoruba are their problems because Soyinka told Jonathan to rein in his henchmen and women in Port Harcourt, miss the point.

    The Nigerian Presidency is not South-South property. Whoever occupies that post must play by the rules or face the flak of right-thinking citizens – Nigeria is a republic, after all! So it is with President Jonathan.

    As for Clark’s grouse with the visiting northern governors, the late Chuba Okadigbo called it “political arithmetic”. If Jonathan, with his power delusion and certified incompetence, alienates a wide swath of the North and a good chunk of the South West, how does he hope to win a second term? Indeed, if his party is in disarray and he is, for ego, planting further insurrection in his back yard, how does his centre hold?

    Elders are supposed to be wise. Clark and co must do some hard thinking, save Jonathan from self-inflicted ruin and stop playing to juvenile gallery.

     

  • Militants warn Soyinka, Falana to keep off Rivers

    Militants warn Soyinka, Falana to keep off Rivers

    •Say their safety can’t be guaranteed
    •Ahead of pro-democracy protest

    A  militant group, Ijaw Freedom Fighters (IFF), and a non-governmental organisation, Ijaw People’s Development Initiatives (IPDI), yesterday, warned Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), to steer clear of Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

    Several civil rights groups have scheduled a rally for that day in the city to protest against what they see as repeated assaults on democracy in the state by some people.

    IFF and IPDI said they cannot guarantee the safety of Soyinka, Falana and other non Niger Deltans if they decide to participate in the protest.

    The two groups described the position of the civil rights groups on the Rivers crisis as vexatious.

    IFF leader, Sese Gideon, said his group “will not allow non-Niger Deltans to add insult in a matter that can be settled without bloodshed.”

    Gideon, in a statement, entitled ‘We will not take your coming to Rivers kindly’ said: “We are a group of youths along the creeks, waterways and uplands of the states in the Niger Delta region. We are committed to the protection of rights, privileges and freedom of the Niger Delta people.

    “We met and observed with interest the continued frivolous and vexatious statements credited to perceived egg heads and civil activists like Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana and many others on the current crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly.

    “While we blame the political class in Rivers and Abuja for allowing such comments due to their indiscretion and show of shame, we will not allow non-Niger Deltans to add insult in a matter that can be settled without bloodshed. We have listened to the name-calling and tongue-lashing of the President and his wife by the civil society but what we will not take kindly to is the invasion being planned by the non-Niger Deltans in Rivers State.

    “If the people of Rivers want to protest, they should protest and demand for what is right. But when it is shown, as clearly displayed, that it is targeted to ridicule and further discredit the South-South and its quest for Presidency in 2015, we cannot guarantee anyone’s safety again. We are not interested in who impeached whom but we will not fold our hands and allow the sponsored onslaught in the Niger Delta under the guise of civil society gathering.

    “We cannot guarantee the safety of anyone interested and plotting to throw Rivers or any other Niger Delta States into turmoil”.

    The IPDI leader, Austin Ozobo, called the planned protest “ill timed” and “ridiculous”.

    He said his group has met with over 50 civil society groups in Warri, Delta State and appealed to the people Rivers State to shun the protest to avert further bloodshed.

    “We urge the police and other security agencies in the state to endeavour to put off the protest to avoid rival group clash and stop planned further cause of disaffection in the state.

    “The crisis in Rivers State is a minor issue that does not need external solution as warring leaders could resolve their differences if they mean well for Rivers.”

    They warn external forces interference as such will add fire to the situation at hand. We are a body of civil activists in the six states of the Niger Delta and were never part of any planned protest in Rivers State.”

    Professor Soyinka and Mr. Falana had condemned the Presidency, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, the state Police Command and the five anti-Amaechi members of the State Assembly for their roles in fuelling the crisis in the state.