Sola
Irked by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s failure to address several pressing economic and security issues dragging the nation backwards when he was in power, renowned Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has described the former President as a monumental disaster.
In an exclusive interview with Noble Nigeria, Soyinka hinged his submission on Buhari’s draconian economic policies, which, according to him, plunged the nation into a far worse situation, adding that the former military head of state left the nation far worse than he met it.
Soyinka stated in clear terms that Buhari, who is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s predecessor, watched as terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry reigned supreme in the nation, adding that his decision to negotiate with terrorists and insurgents worsened security issues in the country to date.
“Buhari, of course, was a disaster. I made very pungent criticisms of Buhari when he was in power. For instance, I gave him an ultimatum when this banditry, fundamentalists, kidnappings, the raiding of farmlands, and the creation of a new nation of displaced persons were the order of the day.
“I told him that as Commander-in-Chief, he should give those insurgents 48 hours to quit all the lands that they had illegally acquired, and after that, it is maximum force. I watched him, but nothing happened. I merely cite this as one. This exposes the nature of Nigeria’s vociferous critics for who they are – liars.
“It is either they are liars or deliberate ignoramuses for them to say that when critical issues that attacked the core of our nation were being discussed, ‘Wole Soyinka kept quiet.’
“After that, we gave up on Buhari completely and began a do-it-yourself mission. Don’t let us flog this horse. Anybody who wants my answer should go and read ‘Baiting Igbophobia’ which is my last in the intervention series.
“I already decided that anybody who wanted to know certain issues and the truth behind certain truths that I share should read those interventions on any public forum for a debate. Otherwise, it is just talking to the ignorant who take pride in their ignorance,” Soyinka said.
The Guardian reports that in April 2022, the Nobel laureate, a vocal critic of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, refuted claims he asked Nigerians to vote for Buhari during the buildup to the 2015 presidential election.
Soyinka, who spoke at a media briefing in Lagos, said despite criticising Jonathan, he never supported the candidacy of Buhari in 2015.
“Jonathan had a chance to win that election and I told him this. He blew it. He really blew it on many levels,” he said at the time. “Before the election, I told him frankly. I told him why I was not going to vote for him or support him because he lost the confidence and trust of the people — a couple of actions and inactions, including his failure to tackle corruption. Despite that, it is false to say that I supported the election of Buhari.
“If I believed that is what I should do, I would not hesitate one moment to come out and say this is the candidate. I challenge anyone to say where did I say vote for Buhari — when, what occasion and in what language?
“What I said very distinctly is ‘do not vote for Jonathan’. I don’t regret that because the level of corruption at that stage was such at number one.
“It is a shame that one has to recall negativities. At no time did I ever say ‘vote for Buhari’. You can’t find it anywhere. I did not vote for Buhari. If you do not believe me, go and ask the security man in Abeokuta who used to accompany me if I left my house that day.”
The Guardian also recalled that in Nov 2023, during an interview with ARISE News Anchor Ojy Okpe at the CANEX Live Theatre closing ceremony of the 3rd Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2023, convened in Cairo, Egypt by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Soyinka had labelled Buhari an “idiot” for banning Twitter in 2021. The ban lasted for 222 days.
Answering a question on whether he believes in the regulation of the internet, Soyinka said: “Theoretically, if you are going to regulate, who regulates it? How does he go about it? Does regulation begin from education – new education? Do we include teaching from the level of primary schools because even children now speak a language which I don’t understand – internet language?
“Watch them at work there, I’m like an illiterate and I will never compete with that.“So, maybe we will have to totally revise our educational system to take in this new monster which, however, is a valuable contribution to the entire human enterprise.
“So, while we talk about regulation, I want us to be very careful there. I don’t want some dictator like this last one (immediate former President Muhammadu Buhari who banned Twitter) attempted to do; who woke up and said I’m banning Facebook (Twitter), Idiot!
“You just wake up and say you are banning Facebook, that is nonsense! Do something constructive, methodical, structured about it, including making the criminals understand that they deserve to be somewhere else.”
