State Of The Nation: Nigeria On The Brink Of Another Civil War – Soyinka Warns

 Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, warned that except something urgent is done, the country was on the brink of another civil war.

Soyinka, who spoke at the 5th Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos, also berated President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to address the deteriorating level of insecurity in the country.

He said: “Let us face it; this nation is on the brinks. Those who do understand it, I feel very sorry for them because they will one day wake up and find out that we have fallen as a nation. This is not what we envisaged when we struggled for independence. This is not what we envisaged when we struggled to overthrow military dictatorship and restore the rights and dignity of human beings. But whether we like it or not, it has come upon us.”

Berating President Jonathan for failing to explain to Nigerians ‘why this nation is at war,” Soyinka said: “My problem with the government, especially the president of this nation is that he does not seem to realise, he has not taken into consideration, into cognizance that by now the president should be addressing the nation, giving details explaining why this nation is at war.”

To avert a second civil war, Soyinka said Nigerians should see the Boko Haram insurgency as a national, not regional problem.

He said: “Certain things have to be done to ensure that this nation is pulled back from the second round of what is leading towards a civil war. By now, we should be tightening our belt, we should not see what is happening in the North as being confined to the North; it is obvious all along that this is not a northern affair. No! We heard that recently that some cells have been found in Lagos, that is not new, it started years ago.”

The colloquium which held at the MUSON Centre Lagos, was themed: A national movement for change. A new generation speaks.”