Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said that he doesn’t believe Nigerian unity is attainable under the current regime of the President Muhammadu Buhari due to its systemic failure.
Soyinka said this in Abuja on Saturday at the book reading and signing of two of his books titled ‘Trumpism in Academe’ and ‘Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth’ organised by Rovenheights Bookstore and Orisun Gallery.
Soyinka’s comment was prompted by former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, who asked Soyinka if he could write a Nigerian story that would evoke patriotism and inspire unity among the various tribes in the country.
The Nobel laureate in response said no narrative could unite the people of Nigeria without restitution and justice.
He explained that persons in Internally Displaced Persons’ camps, who had lost relatives and loved ones due to violence, would not embrace any story of unity unless they got justice.
Soyinka said he didn’t believe the regime of Buhari could unite Nigeria because it suffered from systemic failure.
He said: “We had a critical moment and we lost that moment. The moment when this country could have come together; and the sense of oneness, belonging. That vision of oneness. We lost that moment. There has been more than one moment and we lost the moment. Will another one come? I don’t know. Right now I don’t see it under this government quite frankly.
“There is a failure, a systemic failure in present governance and I don’t know who can put it together. These days, I try to go some days without reading the newspapers. It is so depressing.”
The playwright expressed his personal belief in the unity of the country, adding that the country should not break up.
He however condemned the government for its stance that the unity of the country was non-negotiable.
