For the umpteenth time, the Nobel Laureate, Professor
Wole Soyinka, on Thursday expressed concern on ‘upsetting’ insecurity in the
country, describing the situation as calamitous.
This is coming as President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja blamed the security crisis and the menace of corruption
plaguing the country on decades of poor investment in education and healthcare.
Soyinka therefore called on the federal government
to declare a state of emergency on the level of insecurity currently ravaging
the country.
Soyinka made the remark during an interview with
journalists in Akure, Ondo State, at the Fagunwa Study Group 2nd international conference
with the theme: ‘Wole Soyinka, D O Fagunwa and the Yoruba Artistic Heritage’.
The playwright, who said the federal government
needed to face the security challenges headlong, decried the prevailing
killings, kidnapping and all other manner of criminalities taking the front
burner in the country polity.
According to him,
"As regards the insecurity in the Southwest, there is an emergency.
"There should be a declaration of security
emergency throughout the land, and measures taken accordingly.
"There are many directions of security lapses,
especially in Ondo State; it is a calamity throughout the country, so there is
an emergency."
However, Soyinka commended the state Governor,
Rotimi Akeredolu, for his developmental projects across the state within the
short period he assumed office, and asked him not to rest on his oars.
Akeredolu, who also expressed dismay over the spate
of insecurity, said the government has the capacity to fight the scourge.
"But we have the capacity to rise, and we are
going to rise out of the rubble. I believe in meetings and chat opportunities
like this, apart from being a big canvas for cultural studies, it’s also an
opportunity to deepen critical thinking; evolve a knowledge-based strategic
problem-solving skill and accentuate a clear direction for human development.
"We cannot do less because our challenges are
enormous, the grounds are slippery and the clock ticks by each second. We
believe in your gathering, and our hope rests in the applications of your
conclusions to the process of education and intellectual armament of our
people,” he said.
According to the governor, "A nation without a
perfect understanding of its nationhood is a rudderless ship bound to capsize.
"This is the reason successful nations'
intellectuals continue to embark on archaeological excursions into cultures and
traditions in order to distil the society and bring out its best at all times.
"For all that we know, humanity is passing
through some of its trying periods. Globally, definition of peace, progress,
liberty and prosperity is interrogating the best of our civilisation today.
"From leadership crisis which torments the
sanest of public organisations to the fearful response of a traumatised followership,
the narrative is clear-we must check and recheck the path on which we tread.
"l believe our own experience as a country has
proven to be an atlas of ideas; a body of knowledge that can only improve upon
itself when its contradictions are processed and interrogated.”
Speaking about Soyinka, the governor said: "For
those of us in public service, one feels strong and encouraged by Professor
Soyinka's writings and activities over several decades of his engaging life.
"This is because it has been elevated in our
minds, the art of partisan living, as the biggest ideal of social reclamation.
"Indeed, his life at every station has taught
us that to make a meaning of life, a man must set forth at dawn and immerse
himself at the epicentre of beliefs, struggles and activities which seek to
reclaim society and help it attain its spontaneous fullness of being.”
The governor, however, congratulated the Nobel
Laureate winner on his 85th birthday.
Meanwhile, President Buhari in Abuja blamed the
security crisis and the menace of corruption plaguing the country on decade of
poor investment in education and healthcare.
The president made the remarks yesterday while
receiving a delegation of important personalities from Adamawa State led by
their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor, Umaru Fintiri, in the State
House.
The president was responding to some requests from
the governor to upgrade a school in Yola, the state capital, to a university.
The governor also urged Buhari administration to
convert the Federal Medical Centre to a Teaching Hospital.
While responding, Buhari said the federal
government under his leadership had made investments in education and
healthcare its major priorities.
He described the menace of insecurity and
corruption currently plaguing the country as the fallout of several years of
under investment in education and healthcare.
He therefore assured members of the delegation that
he would act on their requests, but added that the federal government could not
successfully champion the initiatives without the collaboration of the states
and local governments.
"Your Excellency, I am pleased to hear your
remarks, specifically focused on issues around education and health. These
areas remain priorities for this government especially as we strive to achieve
social inclusion and collective prosperity for all Nigerians.
"Many of the issues confronting our country
today, especially in the areas of insecurity and corruption, are directly or indirectly
linked to the decade of under investment in education and healthcare
"At the federal level, we are doing our best
to address these issues. But the federal government cannot do it alone. We need
the state and local governments to do their part. This is not about politics, it
is the reality," he said.
Buhari also noted that the largest group of
Nigerians today is made up of youths below the age of 20, noting that with the
projection that Nigerian population will be one of the fastest in the world
soon, it has become essential to plan ahead.
He therefore told his guests that he had noted their
requests but advised them to formally submit a document compromising their
requests in his office.
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