UPDATED: Soyinka warns leaders not to take citizens for granted

Innocent Raphael

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has warned Nigerian leaders at all levels to desist from taking citizens for granted.

Soyinka said this, while delivering a lecture at The Punch’s 50th anniversary, themed ‘Recovering the Narrative,’ on Thursday.

Professor Soyinka alleged that earlier national conferences intended to tackle Nigeria’s problems were dishonest and that the events were only conducted to appease resentful Nigerians. According to the Noble Laureate, they were merely charades and diversions with the organizers bringing their agendas to the table.

In his words: “It’s about time leaders stopped taking this nation for a ride. You know we must decentralise. Security has become a bugbear, from all corners of the nation, that has been the cry. Decentralise simply so that government can come closer to the people and productivity can be manifested as a product of citizens, not as manna from heaven. That is the attitude obtained at the moment.

 “Those who come in power have indulged in pretend exercises, engaging the populace in totally phoney exercises – obviously just to “pacify the natives”. It is surely time this demand be taken seriously and addressed head-on.

 “There is no shortage of reasoned and implementable propositions in past conference papers, including even sham, money-guzzling initiatives, summoned to distract attention from conspiracies for self-perpetuation in power. It is high time we stopped the cyclic distraction of re-inventing the wheel. The spokes are in place, and the rims are intact. Only the will, not the wheel, is missing in action.”

Soyinka stated that he preferred to use terms like reconfiguration and decentralization rather than using the term restructuring.

“When the word restructuring is booted around, we often have the challenge, what do you mean by restructuring? Well, I don’t even like the word restructuring, I prefer expressions like reconfiguration and decentralisation. And those who lead us, recognise the necessity of it, they recognise the importance and almost the certainty of decentralisation until they get in power.

 “Reconstruction, reconfiguration, decentralisation, all this is necessary to maximise development,” Soyinka said.

The Nobel Laureate stated that to talk about the foundation for Nigeria’s unity, representatives of the people must convene.

“I know that the fear here is one of collapse, breakup; that has been the excuse being given by several regimes. But suppose the nation is breaking up informally, in other words, as a fact, rather than as a theory, aren’t you better just addressing this, coming straight on, and seeing exactly what happened? What is wrong with general representatives sitting down and saying, this should be the protocols of association? Anything outside of this, anyone who does not want to accept these protocols, abide by these protocols, and manifest these protocols in the act, should take a walk,” he stated.