<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Eniola Akinkuotu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says he doesn\u2019t believe Nigerian unity is attainable under the current regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) due to its systemic failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soyinka said this in Abuja on Saturday at the book reading and signing of two of his books titled \u2018Trumpism in Academe\u2019 and \u2018Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth\u2019 organised by Rovenheights Bookstore and Orisun Gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State had asked Soyinka if he could write a Nigerian story that would evoke patriotism and inspire unity among the various tribes in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding, the playwright said no narrative would unite the people of Nigeria without restitution and justice. He explained that persons in Internally Displaced Persons\u2019 camps, who had lost relatives and loved ones due to violence, would not embrace any story of unity unless they got justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nobel laureate said Nigeria had lost a key opportunity to unite, adding that he didn\u2019t believe the regime of Buhari could unite Nigeria because it suffered from systemic failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soyinka added, \u201cWe 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\u2019t know. Right now I don\u2019t see it under this government quite frankly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a failure, a systemic failure in present governance and I don\u2019t know who can put it together. These days, I try to go some days without reading the newspapers. It is so depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soyinka said he personally believed that Nigeria should not break up but should remain one entity. He, however, argued that it was wrong of the government to continue to say the country\u2019s unity was non-negotiable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Originally published at PUNCH<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Eniola Akinkuotu Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says he doesn\u2019t believe Nigerian unity is attainable under the current regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) due to its systemic failure. Soyinka said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[83,933],"class_list":["post-4662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polity-politics-governance","tag-buhari","tag-soyinka"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n