NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, warned that Nigeria was on the brink of another civil war and called for concerted actions to prevent the disaster.
Soyinka, who spoke at the 5th Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos, also chided President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to address the deteriorating level of insecurity in the country.
Themed: A national movement for change. A new generation speaks,” the colloquium was held at the MUSON Centre, Lagos.
He said: “Let us face it; this nation is on the brinks. Those who do understand it, I feel very sorry for them because they will one day wake up and find out that we have fallen as a nation. This is not what we envisaged when we struggled for independence. This is not what we envisaged when we struggled to overthrow military dictatorship and restore the rights and dignity of human beings. But whether we like it or not, it has come upon us.”
Chides Jonathan on insecurity
Berating President Jonathan for the worsening waves of insecurity, he said: “My problem with the government, especially the president of this nation is that he does not seem to realise, he has not taken into consideration, into cognizance that by now the president should be addressing the nation, giving details explaining why this nation is at war.”
To avert a second civil war, Soyinka said Nigerians should not see the Boko Haram insurgency as a regional problem, but as a national one.
He said: “Certain things have to be done to ensure that this nation is pulled back from the second round of what is leading towards a civil war. By now, we should be tightening our belt, we should not see what is happening in the North as being confined to the North; it is obvious all along that this is not a northern affair. No! We heard that recently that some cells have been found in Lagos, that is not new, it started years ago.
JD:For those of us students of history who were around in the mid sixties in the crisis that led to the civil war,we have our fears that nigeria might be headed in that direction too if care is not taken.Backdrop this against the Mali,Benin and Central African Republic crisis in recent times then you dont have to be a prophet to predict that Nigeria might be headed for crisis. And the Prof is right.this government might not be showing the capacity to lead this country out of the dark hole we are in.They seem to be bent on digging the hole much much deeper.The President needs to call for help from those who know or perhaps just do all of us a favour and take his accumulated leave
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