Presidency: Prof. playing the ostrich
Nigerians have been cast into a furnace, Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka said yesterday.
With a biblical allusion, the playwright stated his opinion on the state of the nation, likening President Goodluck Jonathan to the Babylonian autocrat, King Nebuchadnezzar.
He said Nigerians had been cast into a “furnace” in the manner of Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego.
Unfortunately for the citizens, no divine miracle appears to be at hand for a last-minute rescue, Soyinka said.
The three biblical characters, in the book of Daniel, were cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to an image made by the despotic king, but they were miraculously rescued.
Soyinka, at a media briefing at the Freedom Park in Lagos, with the theme: “King Nebuchadnezzar – the reign of impunity”, said Jonathan’s administration had become known for lawlessness.
“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 not Nebuchadnezzar’. Perhaps not. One judges leaders on acts, however, not pronouncements, which are often as reliable as electoral promises.
“King Nebu remains relevant – and not only for leadership. We, the citizens, are beginning to feel the heat. We wake up each morning to a sensation that we have been cast into the furnace together with those who at least committed the crime of dissent or criticism,” he said
House of Representatives members have been pilloried for scaling the National Assembly’s fence on November 20 when the police shut the gate and teargassed them.
Soyinka said it was wrong for the media to describe their action as a “show of shame”. It was rather the lawmakers’ “finest moment”, he said.
In his view, the police action is like a declaration of war on Nigerians. He criticised Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba for exercising what he called “brutish power”.
According to the dramatist, it is left for Nigerians to either resist such abuse of power or accept it.
“The people must decide – whether to submit or resist. We may be no-count plebeians in the sight of the new-born patricians of Aso Rock and their apologists, but must we revert to the Abacharian status of glorified slaves? Of course it is up to any people to decide,” Soyinka said.
He described security agencies as “praetorian guards” 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.
“This latest action of the supposed guardians of the law against the nation’s lawgivers is an unambiguous declaration of war against the people,” Soyinka said.
The frontline activist said the legislators were not elected for their athletic prowess, but they were made to perform over and above the call of the Olympics, which, to him, deserves praise.
“I don’t understand why some media have described their action as a show of shame – this is a very careless, easily misapplied designation.
“The act of scaling gates and walls to fulfill their duty by the people must be set down as their finest hour. They must be applauded, not derided.
“If shame belongs anywhere, it belongs to the Inspector-General of Police and his slavish adherence to conspiratorial, illegal, and unconstitutional instructions – to undermine a democratic structure, and one – to make matters worse – convoked in response to an emergency of dire public concern,”
Soyinka said what sticks to Abba is worse than shame. According to him, it is infamy.
Such a public servant, Soyinke said, deserves to be pilloried, tried and meted a punishment that is appropriate to treasonable acts, if only to serve as a deterrent to others in positions of responsibility under the law.
“To demand less is to reduce ourselves below the status of free citizens of a free nation. It means we endorse violence against our representatives, that we are content to submit ourselves to the jackboots of naked force,” he said.
Soyinka said for this latest act in an escalating series of impunity, the buck stops with President Jonathan, who he said has degraded a system by which he “attained fulfillment”.
The Professor said Boko Haram could have been dealt with through a national mobilisation of the citizens on an unprecedented scale, even if certain liberties are curtailed.
But such unity of purpose and sacrifice, he said, would be hard to achieve as the response would be outright rejection because “any such notion would be distrusted and be seen as an act of insincerity, an opportunity to acquire even more powers for citizen enslavement.”
Soyinka said the time had come for Nigerians to defend themselves. Referring to the female Civilian Joint Task Force member, he said: “Ladi, it would appear, needed no such urging from any direction.
“It was obvious to her, and others like her, that it was futile to await salvation from a centre that is so self-obsessed with power that it no longer sees even the danger to its very existence. A people must defend itself,” he said.
On America’s reported refusal to supply Nigeria Cobra Helicopters, Soyinka said the US should stop making a mockery of the country.
“America should stop laughing at us. Just say you will not supply arms to Nigeria and stop there,” he said.
Soyinka, however, urged America to overlook the “arithmetic failings” of the Peoples Democratic Party-led government, referring to the “impeachment” of the Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker by seven PDP lawmakers and Jonathan’s endorsement of “losers” in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election.
He said it was possible that America felt the Nigerian government’s lack of mathematic knowledge meant they could not operate the fighter jets.
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