Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has
described the presidential and National Assembly elections as the most
vicious, unprincipled, vulgar and violent he had ever witnessed.
Soyinka, in an interview with The Guardian
UK on Sunday, was quoted as saying, “We’re talking about a very
positive response by the public in terms of determination to register
and vote but, you know, this has been one of the most vicious,
unprincipled, vulgar and violent exercises I have ever witnessed.
“I just hope we won’t go down as being the incorrigible giant of Africa.”
According to Soyinka, the stakes appear
to be so high that all scruples have been set aside and it’s very
distressing to compare this election with that of 1993, which was one of
the most orderly, civilised and resolute elections the country ever
had.
He said, “This one was like a
no-holds-barred kind of election, especially, frankly, from the
incumbency side. One shouldn’t be too surprised anyway given the kind of
people who are manning the barricades for the incumbent candidate.
“Most expensive, most prodigal, wasteful, senseless, I mean really insensitive in terms of what people live on in this country.
“This was the real naira-dollar
extravaganza, spent on just subverting, shall we say, the natural
choices of people. Just money instead of argument, instead of position
statements.
“And of course the sponsoring of violence
in various places, in addition to this festive atmosphere in which
every corner, every pillar, every electric pole is adorned with one
candidate or the other, many of them in poses which remind one of
Nollywood.”
Soyinka, who told The Guardian
how he was recently invited by President Goodluck Jonathan to discuss
various issues, said, “We even discussed life after power, whenever that
takes place.
“It was difficult for me to decide from
his side how readily he might accept defeat. He absolutely swore that if
he lost he was going back to Otuoke village. If I take him literally, I
think he will accept the result, but I’ve learned never to trust any
politician from here to there, even if they’re just coming out of
communion. So I really don’t know.
“I think Nigerians have had a very rough
time over the last few years with Boko Haram and all kinds of
insecurity, failure of governance and so on. I think we deserve to have
this period as a period of comparative tranquillity and peace of mind to
reconstruct and address some really fundamental issues of society. So I
really hope the result, however gracelessly or grudgingly, will be
accepted by the loser.”
Culled From PUNCH
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