Professor Wole Soyinka Likens President Jonathan To ‘Nebuchadnezzar’

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has lambasted
President Goodluck Jonathan for allowing
what he called a reign of impunity, the latest
being police siege on the National Assembly.
Mr. Soyinka said the latest action of Suleiman
Abba, the Inspector General of Police, against
members of the House of Representatives
was an "unambiguous" declaration of war
against the people.
At a press conference in Lagos he titled King
Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity, Mr.
Soyinka said that the battle line had been
drawn and Nigerians must decide whether to
submit or resist to the current democratic
dispensation.
"I shall not insist that the biblical figure of
Nebuchadnezzar is uniquely apt for the
pivotal figure of the 'democratic' history in
the making at this moment," said Mr.
Soyinka. "For one thing, Nebu was a nation
builder and a warrior. One could argue even
more convincingly for the figure of Balthazar,
his successor, or indeed Emperor Nero as
reference point – you all remember him – the
emperor who took to fiddling while Rome was
burning.
"However you should easily recall why I opted
for King Nebu – the figure that currently sits
on the top of our political pile himself evoked
it, albeit in a context that virtuously
disclaimed any similarities, even tendencies.
Perhaps he meant it at the time when he
claimed: 'I am no Nebuchadnezzar.' Perhaps
not. One judges leaders on acts however, not
pronouncements, which are often as reliable
as electoral promises."
Mr. Soyinka said that it was left for Nigerians
to decide to revert to the 'Abacharian status
of glorified slaves."
"The praetorian guards have been let loose –
to teach the rabble their place," he said.
"The recent choice of a new leader for the
guard was clearly no accident, and this
hitherto unknown enforcer, one Suleiman
Abba, has wasted no time in inaugurating a
season of brutish power. When a people's
elected emissaries are disenfranchised, cast
out like vagrants and resort to scaling fences
to engage in their designated functions, the
people get the message.
"However, the choice is always there, and
each choice comes at a cost. It is either we
pay now, or pay later."
Mr. Soyinka also said that President Goodluck
Jonathan had continued to surprise Nigerians
in ways "few could have conjectured."
"Peaking at his own personalised example
where he set the law of arithmetic on its head
– I refer to the split in the Governors' Forum,
and his 'formal' recognition of the minority
will in a straightforward, peer election –
democracy has been rendered meaningless
where it should be most fervently
exemplified.
"Nothing is more unworthy of leadership than
to degrade a system by which one attains
fulfilment, and this is what the nation has
witnessed time and time again in various
parts of the nation, the recent affront against
the legislative chamber being only the most
blatant and unconscionable…
"It is a warning. His choices for the occupancy
of crucial public positions – such as the
protective arm of the nation – constitutes an
even more immediate and constant public
alert. The signals are ominous – for and
beyond 2015."
Posted By David Aniemeka