Buhari’s failure to tackle Herdsmen menace has eroded all his achievements – Soyinka
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Sunday lamented the growing challenges posed to the security of Nigerians by herdsmen, saying President Muhammadu Buhari’s failure to find a solution to them, has eroded all the achievements of his administration.
Soyinka added that the carelessness and negligence of the Buhari’s administration to the herdsmen menace has led to the death Nigerians in hundreds.
The Playwrights and author Kongi Harvest, made this known at his serene Ijegba residence tucked inside a forest beside Ilugun – Itoko community, behind Kemta Housing Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The Octogenarian spoke when he hosted 85 pupils drawn from all the six-geopolitical zones of the country to mark his 85 birthday.
Responding to the pupils’ questions on sundry issues during an interactive session at his private Amphitheatre still within the forest, the Nobel laureate said he can’t in clear conscience say he is a supporter of Buhari’s administration because of the appalling and pervasive problems of cattle and their herders across the country.
He noted that the problems of the country have overwhelmed President Buhari, saying they cannot be solved by his government.
Soyinka advised the President to convoke a national dialogue among all the people across party lines so as to engage in governance that would benefit the generality of Nigerians.
He said: “Look at what is happening today, how is it possible for me to say for instance that I am proof this government, it is been negligent, look at what is happening with the cattle all over the place. That is a security issue which should never have reached this level.
“I am sure that carelessness and single act which has resulted in hundreds of people been killed in their farms and their farms also taken over; it has wiped away a lot of the positive achievements of the government.
“It is an issue that is so serious and which concern the welfare of you and me that any carelessness or any failure there is totally unforgivable and unpardonable.
“It is not that one like to criticize for the sake of criticizing, NO!, it is just that we believe that there is a minimal level which any government which has been elected to power must achieve to be considered a true representative of the people.
“If you agree first of all that, the problems of this nation are completely beyond it, that is the first admission. And we should start thinking in terms of partisan government, it is going to form in my view, a government called across political parties and need to forget their allegiances and really comfort this nation as a habitation of human beings for very serious issue s like economic, health, security, etc.
“The ingredients that threaten succession of government are being experienced every day… and convoke every time a national what I called an indaba across all sections which we all meet and debate everyday including the economy of this nation, I think that is best way to go. I believe very frankly that the problems of this nation are beyond the solution that can be offered by this government.”
And speaking further on governance in Nigeria, Soyinka said: “governance is a very difficult occupation, Nigeria is a very complex nation for lot of reasons; its history, the background, the formation of it, the complexity, the culture, balancing here and there and then, you have several complications like fuel, among others.
“Politicians that money has gone into their heads, misdirect themselves in terms of priority, they neglect some sections, some of them are nepotistic and some of them alienated themselves from the public which is the people they are supposed to serve and govern and they think they are still colonial masters, especially, when we went through the military period.”
-The Nation
