Soyinka Blasts Federal Government Over Boko Haram

During his interview with German Radio DW, to which The Nation refers, Soyinka characterized it as “the biggest problem” he has “with the Jonathan government”.

The first African awarded with Nobel Prize in Literature, Soyinka said that some people were still bent on creating a political crisis in the country by stalling the upcoming elections and forming an interim government.

“Ex-military officers and security officers are trying to push aside the political contestants and use the unrest as an excuse to establish an interim government. The nature of the interim government wants to pretend it’s not really a military intervention. A few political leaders, well-known civilians, want to give the veneer of civilian structure, but basically it’s a kind of political intervention.”

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The respectable Nigerian also lamented over the situation with the Chibok girls abducted almost a year ago. He has little hope that the “the majority of them” will ever return home and believes that despite joint offer with the neigbours’ military, there is no chance of a rapid victory over Boko Haram.

“It will take a generation at least to exterminate this phenomenon altogether. The military would not have had to cope with Boko Haram on this level if the proper action had been taken at the right time.”

Soyinka also spoke critically about Patience Jonathan, President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, and about the possible (or even likely) military power takeover.

“What she said was totally unacceptable. I no longer regard her as the First Lady of Nigeria.”

Regarding the polls, the 80-year-old expressed concern over the aggressive direction the election campaign is taking. He added, however, that he did not support the All Progressives Congress move to file criminal charges against the First Lady before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

It is worth noting that the major opposition party has recently petitioned the international body urging it to investigate the provocative statements made by Dame Patience in the course of several rallies. The ICC responded saying that it would consider the matter “as appropriate”.