Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has lent his
voice to the growing calls for the restructuring of
the Nigerian federation, saying the sovereignty of
the nation is negotiable.
Speaking during a visit to PUNCH Place, the
corporate headquarters of PUNCH Nigeria
Limited, Kilometre 14, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway,
Ogun State, on Tuesday, Soyinka said
decentralisation of the nation would ensure
healthy rivalry among the component units.
The laureate said it was wrong for previous
administrations in the country to say that
Nigeria’s sovereignty was non-negotiable,
submitting that the position was antithetical to
development.
Soyinka added, “I am on the side of those who
say we must do everything to avoid
disintegration. That language I understand. I
don’t understand (ex-President Olusegun)
Obasanjo’s language. I don’t understand
(President Muhammadu) Buhari’s language and
all their predecessors, saying the sovereignty of
this nation is non-negotiable. It’s bloody well
negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We
better negotiate it, not even at meetings, not at
conferences, but everyday in our conduct towards
one another.
“We had better understand it too that when
people are saying ‘let’s restructure’, they have
better things to do. It’s not an idle cry; it is a
perennial demand. The Pro-National Conference
Organisation was about restructuring when this
same Obasanjo said it was an act of treason for
people to come together to fashion a new
constitution. Those were fighting words; that
you’re saying, ‘I commit treason because I want
to sit with my fellow citizens and negotiate the
structures of staying together’ and ask the police
to go and break it up and arrest us.
“I remember that policeman, who said if we met,
that would be treason. I wasn’t a member of
PRONACO at the time. That’s when I joined
PRONACO. If you’re saying to me, ‘I am a
second-class citizen; I cannot sit down and
discuss the articles, the protocols of staying
together’ and you’re trying to bully me, I won’t
accept.”
He said Nigeria could not continue with a
centralisation policy, which encouraged what he
described as “monkey dey work, baboon dey
chop” mentality.
Soyinka said the over centralisation of
government had resulted in resentment among
constituent states, adding that the phenomenon
was insulting and promoted anti-healthy rivalry
among states.
He stated, “We cannot continue to allow a
centralisation policy which makes the constituent
units of this nation resentful; they say monkey
dey work, baboon dey chop. And the idea of
centralising revenues, allocation system, whereby
you dole out; the thing is insulting and it is what
I call anti-healthy rivalry. It is against the
incentives to make states viable.”
He said the centralisation of government led to
the proliferation of states during the military era
when, according to him, a state was created
because the girlfriend of a certain military leader
hailed from the state.
He said it was high time government established
state police to check the rising security
challenges in the country, stressing that policing
was more effective when localised.
Soyinka added, “I know people get nervous about
that expression. If you go to a place like England,
you sometimes see two, three, four police
(officers) just walking casually unarmed, but they
are observing everything.
“Now, if policing is all of that, then I think the
police are more efficient if they are based within a
smaller constituency than a larger one. Within
such constituencies, the policeman virtually
knows everybody. A federal, centralised system of
police lacks that advantage.
“So, I find it very difficult to accept that people
can be nervous about the state police. State
police has been abused. Nobody is denying that;
it’s historical. Don’t tell us because we know
already. But isn’t centralised police also abused?
Look at what’s been coming out from the last
elections, not just the police, but the military.”
Condemning the killings perpetrated by Fulani
herdsmen across the country, the Professor of
Comparative Literature said the phenomenon had
become an albatross that must be tackled
frontally by the Federal Government.
Soyinka said the intrusive nature of Fulani
herdsmen was no longer a remote problem for
him personally, alleging that some Fulani
herdsmen had invaded the privacy of his
residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“It is no longer a remote problem for me. It is an
actuality,” he said, recalling that the killings
carried out by suspected Fulani herdsmen in
Enugu some months ago was mismanaged by the
government.
“In Enugu, why did it take so long to investigate
the killings? It’s like the case of Ese Oruru. What
is all this? What is security for? That thing should
have been addressed immediately. (In Enugu),
they shouldn’t have waited for directives from
Buhari or anybody. This is a crime against
humanity. There should be no debate about it.
“The military should have been drafted there
immediately; the police, first of all, and the
military – if necessary. I found out that the
victims were arrested; what’s all that about? This
menace is underestimated. If they had reached
my secure place in Abeokuta, then it is no longer
a remote problem.”
He faulted the proposal to create grazing reserves
for herdsmen in the country, saying rather than do
that, ranches, where members of the public could
go to buy cows and goats, should be created.
The octogenarian said the term “grazing reserve”
would convey the meaning that government had
carved out some people’s land for herdsmen to
use for their commercial enterprise.
“The word ‘reserve’ is the problem. If there are
ranches, it doesn’t matter where they are built,
ranches are a commercial proposition, it isn’t a
Fulani issue. You can create ranches so that
cows, goats could be bought there. This shouldn’t
be an instrument of politics, race or ethnicity.
“But when you talk about reserves, it suggests
that people can bring cattle from Futa Djallon,
Senegal, and if they get here, they can get
reserve. If it’s a ranch, it’s a pure commercial
proposition, you want to trade. I will like to see
these cattle people go back to the position they
were before in which there was mutual
collaboration between them and farmers,” he
said.
Soyinka called on Buhari to consider the report of
the 2014 National Conference convened during the
tenure of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan,
lamenting that the country had been moving
round in circles without direction.
“We have a habit of consigning files to the dust
shelves and then we start all over again. The
(confab) report that came under Jonathan is even
more superior to the one that I participated in as
a member of PRONACO and I think that should be
addressed seriously.
“The recommendations strike me as workable,
practical, and in fact, as answering some of the
anxieties of this nation. This is something I think
that Buhari should tackle seriously,” he said.
voice to the growing calls for the restructuring of
the Nigerian federation, saying the sovereignty of
the nation is negotiable.
Speaking during a visit to PUNCH Place, the
corporate headquarters of PUNCH Nigeria
Limited, Kilometre 14, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway,
Ogun State, on Tuesday, Soyinka said
decentralisation of the nation would ensure
healthy rivalry among the component units.
The laureate said it was wrong for previous
administrations in the country to say that
Nigeria’s sovereignty was non-negotiable,
submitting that the position was antithetical to
development.
Soyinka added, “I am on the side of those who
say we must do everything to avoid
disintegration. That language I understand. I
don’t understand (ex-President Olusegun)
Obasanjo’s language. I don’t understand
(President Muhammadu) Buhari’s language and
all their predecessors, saying the sovereignty of
this nation is non-negotiable. It’s bloody well
negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We
better negotiate it, not even at meetings, not at
conferences, but everyday in our conduct towards
one another.
“We had better understand it too that when
people are saying ‘let’s restructure’, they have
better things to do. It’s not an idle cry; it is a
perennial demand. The Pro-National Conference
Organisation was about restructuring when this
same Obasanjo said it was an act of treason for
people to come together to fashion a new
constitution. Those were fighting words; that
you’re saying, ‘I commit treason because I want
to sit with my fellow citizens and negotiate the
structures of staying together’ and ask the police
to go and break it up and arrest us.
“I remember that policeman, who said if we met,
that would be treason. I wasn’t a member of
PRONACO at the time. That’s when I joined
PRONACO. If you’re saying to me, ‘I am a
second-class citizen; I cannot sit down and
discuss the articles, the protocols of staying
together’ and you’re trying to bully me, I won’t
accept.”
He said Nigeria could not continue with a
centralisation policy, which encouraged what he
described as “monkey dey work, baboon dey
chop” mentality.
Soyinka said the over centralisation of
government had resulted in resentment among
constituent states, adding that the phenomenon
was insulting and promoted anti-healthy rivalry
among states.
He stated, “We cannot continue to allow a
centralisation policy which makes the constituent
units of this nation resentful; they say monkey
dey work, baboon dey chop. And the idea of
centralising revenues, allocation system, whereby
you dole out; the thing is insulting and it is what
I call anti-healthy rivalry. It is against the
incentives to make states viable.”
He said the centralisation of government led to
the proliferation of states during the military era
when, according to him, a state was created
because the girlfriend of a certain military leader
hailed from the state.
He said it was high time government established
state police to check the rising security
challenges in the country, stressing that policing
was more effective when localised.
Soyinka added, “I know people get nervous about
that expression. If you go to a place like England,
you sometimes see two, three, four police
(officers) just walking casually unarmed, but they
are observing everything.
“Now, if policing is all of that, then I think the
police are more efficient if they are based within a
smaller constituency than a larger one. Within
such constituencies, the policeman virtually
knows everybody. A federal, centralised system of
police lacks that advantage.
“So, I find it very difficult to accept that people
can be nervous about the state police. State
police has been abused. Nobody is denying that;
it’s historical. Don’t tell us because we know
already. But isn’t centralised police also abused?
Look at what’s been coming out from the last
elections, not just the police, but the military.”
Condemning the killings perpetrated by Fulani
herdsmen across the country, the Professor of
Comparative Literature said the phenomenon had
become an albatross that must be tackled
frontally by the Federal Government.
Soyinka said the intrusive nature of Fulani
herdsmen was no longer a remote problem for
him personally, alleging that some Fulani
herdsmen had invaded the privacy of his
residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“It is no longer a remote problem for me. It is an
actuality,” he said, recalling that the killings
carried out by suspected Fulani herdsmen in
Enugu some months ago was mismanaged by the
government.
“In Enugu, why did it take so long to investigate
the killings? It’s like the case of Ese Oruru. What
is all this? What is security for? That thing should
have been addressed immediately. (In Enugu),
they shouldn’t have waited for directives from
Buhari or anybody. This is a crime against
humanity. There should be no debate about it.
“The military should have been drafted there
immediately; the police, first of all, and the
military – if necessary. I found out that the
victims were arrested; what’s all that about? This
menace is underestimated. If they had reached
my secure place in Abeokuta, then it is no longer
a remote problem.”
He faulted the proposal to create grazing reserves
for herdsmen in the country, saying rather than do
that, ranches, where members of the public could
go to buy cows and goats, should be created.
The octogenarian said the term “grazing reserve”
would convey the meaning that government had
carved out some people’s land for herdsmen to
use for their commercial enterprise.
“The word ‘reserve’ is the problem. If there are
ranches, it doesn’t matter where they are built,
ranches are a commercial proposition, it isn’t a
Fulani issue. You can create ranches so that
cows, goats could be bought there. This shouldn’t
be an instrument of politics, race or ethnicity.
“But when you talk about reserves, it suggests
that people can bring cattle from Futa Djallon,
Senegal, and if they get here, they can get
reserve. If it’s a ranch, it’s a pure commercial
proposition, you want to trade. I will like to see
these cattle people go back to the position they
were before in which there was mutual
collaboration between them and farmers,” he
said.
Soyinka called on Buhari to consider the report of
the 2014 National Conference convened during the
tenure of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan,
lamenting that the country had been moving
round in circles without direction.
“We have a habit of consigning files to the dust
shelves and then we start all over again. The
(confab) report that came under Jonathan is even
more superior to the one that I participated in as
a member of PRONACO and I think that should be
addressed seriously.
“The recommendations strike me as workable,
practical, and in fact, as answering some of the
anxieties of this nation. This is something I think
that Buhari should tackle seriously,” he said.
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