Nelson A. Osuala[16 July 2016] 12:22PM
The Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has marshalled out his reasons for supporting the Biafran agitators.
For him, the Igbo people have long been so marginalised and wrong that they seem to have no choice than to consider a break away from Nigeria.!
According to our source, Prof. Soyinka who spoke yesterday during an interview with Al Jazeera, did argue on the strength of logically valid premises why he is in support of Biafra and her agitators.
An excerpt of his argument as culled from (Nigerian Breaking news.com) is as thus:
“I am very much pro- Biafra because I recognise that the Igbo have been wronged desperately.
“They have been brutalised in a way that justifies their feeling that they were not part of the nation.
“Let me also say this, Biafrans are not entirely innocent in this affair. They were not, but the unleashing of such venom, such devastation on them as a people, was sufficient to justify their decision not to be part of the nation.”
“I was pro-Biafran in the sense that I felt that they needed justice.”
On the question of being a trouble maker, The nobel laureate outrightly denied that he was, especially in the face of the current Biafran crisis.
He however added that, the political climate of his childhood informed most of his experience and arguments as he was kept abreast with the political circumstances that surrounded his upbringing.
In his words,
“I grew up in certain circumstances being very conscious politically, in this very Abeokuta; My mother was involved in the politics, my aunt, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was a leader…
“I grew up among political arguments on issues that concern humanity and I find that basically gravitated towards recognising the basic worth of human beings.
“Something I disagree when they call me a patriot because I don’t agitate on some certain entity called a nation; I agitate on humanity.”
He further talked about the importance of History in academic Curricular. He condemned the removal of History and teaching of the Biafran crisis in schools.
For him, it is disheartening that “Officials do not want to confront their own history, especially the history in the making of which they feel uncomfortable but, if you do not confront your past, you are going to mess up your future.”
When asked about such issues as Boko Haram and the breakup of Nigeria, Soyinka informs ironically, that in his subjective opinion, Boko Haram might be part of the reason why Nigeria is yet to experience a breakup!
For him, If it were few years ago, he would have agreed that Nigeria would split, but, now that a section of the country is in trouble, there is some kind of a deliberate action of pulling together.
He added that the conscience of many Nigerian has been awakened such that they cannot abandon that section of the country.
He urged Nigerians to recognise the plurality of Nigeria, the diversities amidst unity, how these came together and begin to devise and adopt a method of governance which cannot only be of massive decentralisation.
“That way, we can stay together (but) if we continue to have a centralist government, then, Nigeria is on the brink.”
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Nelson A.Osuala
Is a Blogger & the Associate Editor of Negroidhaven.org (negroidhaven)