Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has slammed the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) over their comment describing the bombing of the Atlas Cove jetty by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) as an invitation to inter tribal war. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos yesterday, Professor Soyinka asserted that the recent attack on the oil jetty in Lagos belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by MEND fighters had no ethnic consideration as some people including the YCE leadership would like the world to believe.
Soyinka, warned against any reaction that would attempt to turn the attack into an assault on any ethnic group, stating emphatically that, “I don’t feel I have been assaulted as a Yoruba man by the attack.”
He, therefore, warned against any form of reaction by anybody that could link the attack with any attempt to single out an ethnic group as a target of attack warning that, such unguided reactions could be more dangerous than the bombing of installations.
Hear him: “There are dangers that are greater, even than the bombing of the Atlas Cove. There are other forms of dangers which can emerge from the kind of language and kind of reactions whenever anything abnormal happened. And particularly, with an attempt to turn the unfortunate event into an assault by one ethnic group against another by any organisation.
“In other words, I think that, our response should not be based on ethnic recognition. And so, leaders, elders and perceived leaders of thoughts should be more guided in their language,” Soyinka warned.
While suspecting that those who carried out the bombing in the name of MEND might be dissidents that might have proliferated the ranks and files of the group, the Nobel Laureate stated further that, “in the history of the world, there has never been any kind of movement which does not have its share of its dissidents,” just as he advised that, the MEND has the responsibility, like any other liberal organisations, to flush out the defiants from its midst.
Speaking further, the concerned scholar advised President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua not to lose the opportunity presented by the Niger Delta crisis to solve the fundamental problems of the country holistically, saying the cause of the agitation was the same issues other organisations like the Pro-National Conference (PRONACO) had been complaining about.
Though Soyinka welcomed the idea of the amnesty for the militants, he expressed strong conviction that amnesty was just part of the solution, pointing out the need for the country to be restructured in line with vision 1960, where every component of the country had the chance of developing at its own pace.
Soyinka wanted restructuring that would address physical federalism, revenue generation, derivation, contribution and distribution, as well as electoral process that would make people’s votes to count, stressing that, the problems could not be solved outside holistic approach.According to the renowned author, it would be foolish and naïve for anybody to think that, when a problem was solved at a small corner, the whole problem had been solved, pointing out that, MEND really wanted the real mending of the country and not re-branding it.
Nigeria, Soyinka said, needed complete body work like a vehicle, pointing out that, re-branding was like putting lipstick on a pig which could never make it Year 2020 Miss Nigeria.MEND, Soyinka stated, meant proper mending in deep concept, stating that, it was foolish to have dismissed the militants as a bunch of rascals the way the government wanted us to see them.
On the issue of demand for apology, the Nobel laureate said the demand was borne out of emotion, adding that some languages like ‘ultimatum’ and the likes were very dangerous in some circumstances.To Soyinka, every Nigerian suffered various types of denials in the contraption called Nigeria, saying other meanings of violence included denial of shelter, denial of basic infrastructure for Nigerian to reproduce their lives in more dignified level and denial of democratic right to choose who should govern them through free and fair election.
Excerpts from the press briefing:
Atlas Cove bombing:
We must begin by sending our condolences to the relations of the victims of the Atlas Cove attack. We must deplore the necessity of any kind of action that leads to losses of Nigerians’ lives as a result of insecurity. This and other factors that are lamentable. They are not normal. We are not living under normal circumstances. I will like to appeal to Lagos State Government to do something for the dependants of the casualties of the attack and also to wherever possible, beef up security because it is the responsibility of any government.
Having said that, there are dangers which are greater than even than the blowing of the Atlas Cove. We have spoken about the physical conflagration. But then, there are other forms of potential conflagration which can be from the kind of language, from the kind of attitude that had been expressed when an unusual event of this nature happens – the attempt to turn this as an attack by one ethnic group against another or by one organization against an ethnic group. In other words, I feel that our response can’t be based on any kind of any ethnic recognition.
Fashola’s response
This violence took place on Lagos soil. The Lagos State Government which is responsible for the safety of its citizens has the responsibility to protect its citizens. That is understood. That is the responsibility of the governor. He’s the chief security officer of Lagos and his ward or constituency, Lagos State. But I noticed with great commendation that Governor Fashola never attempted to turn this into an assault on his ethnic group. Fashola spoke as the governor of Lagos with the concern of Lagos, his own responsibility. What I deplore is the attempt by other groups to suggest that this was an assault on the Yoruba people.
As a Yoruba man, I want to state quite clearly that I don’t think that I have been assaulted because of the reality of ethnic grouping.
Danger signal!
And it is very dangerous and far more dangerous than even the explosion which took place on the Atlas Cove. The kind of language that is used to classify it as ethnic attack is fraught with dangers, not only for the Yoruba people, not just for Lagos State, but also for the entire nation and I think that elders, especially those who called themselves elders and therefore leaders of thought and leaders of reactions and responses, have to be far more guarded in their language. The facility that was blown up, I am not aware that it was labelled Yoruba oil depot. I haven’t seen any Benin Oil Depot, I haven’t seen any Hausa Oil Depot. I haven’t even seen any Ijaw Oil Depot.
So, where does ethnicity come into the picture? It’s a very dangerous use of language because of the way it appears to sycophants, to those who are physically prone to violence anyway, who are looking for any excuse to inflict mayhem on any community. That type of language, the language of ultimatum, the language of ‘we the Yoruba people and so on…’ is unacceptable especially given the very circumstances of this particular attack.
Violence
Now, let me use this opportunity also to say one or two things about violence. In the history of the world, there has never been any kind of movement, however principled, which does not have its share of the mentally unbalanced, of the opportunists of the sycophants, of the kidnappers, of the sorcerers even racists.
It is not unusual and people should stop pretending that MEND, those who claim they are acting or defending the same course as MEND, you find among them, those who do not have conviction of any kind, not even an ethnic conviction. It is not unusual.
Violence has been institutionalized in this nation anyway. Thuggery has been institutionalized and at no time more frequently so, than under the last president of this nation. We had an entire state handed over to thugs. We had the president of the nation as political a father to a notorious son and virtually handing over the whole state to him. We had the state of Anambra handed over with the connivance of the Federal Government to thugs for mayhem.
So, let’s not over dramatized violence, at least not in this particular country. What I’m saying is this, don’t let’s get too sanctimonious.
Don’t let’s start pretending that we are not aware that human being is such that, the purity attached very often is to the loftiest ideals. Therefore, nobody in this country should expect an organization like MEND, to be composed entirely of angels. But MEND also has a responsibility to assist the general community in flushing its racketeers. This is the responsibility of any liberal organization.
Opportunity for Yar’Adua
But the government of Yar’Adua again is about to lose another opportunity. What do I mean? You hand over amnesty, you offer rehabilitation money, you offer the proposed structures for the mobilization etc. etc. But this government is still making a fundamental mistake. The crisis of the Delta region can only be solved holistically because the core issue for which MEND is fighting, from my research and contact with some MEND militants is exactly what the majority of people have been fighting for, for many years – the restructuring of this nation on more equitable lines. We are talking about fiscal federalism, for instance. We are talking about issues of revenue allocation, derivation, generation etc. etc. We are talking about the distortion that has taken place since this nation obtained “independence.”
In one of my articles, I did pose a question that people are talking about 20-2020, whatever happened to the Vision1960. You can’t be talking about 2020, when you have already distorted the Vision of 1960, which was a federal vision which enabled various regions to generate their resources for development, deciding their own priority, a kind of equitable relationship between a component part of the federation of Nigeria. All that has been distorted. MEND is simply PRONACO by other means. What PRONACO was about, was precisely to avoid the result to this other means. The aims of PRONACO and MEND in fact, tally at various points. It is the methodology that is different. That is why I used the expression, ‘MEND is simply PRONACO by other means’ and the problem of the Niger Delta can’t be solved outside a holistic concept of what Nigeria should be.
Apology demand
We need to distinguish between pragmatism, realism and emotionalism. I can take the demand for apology etc., to be an emotional reaction. What becomes so dangerous as I said is issuing ultimatum. To whom are you issuing it exactly? Do you know MEND? Who are the forces of MEND? Who do you direct the ultimatum to? I don’t like the language of ultimatum especially when that ultimatum is being issued on behalf of the entity that which I am a part of. Yoruba nation issuing an ultimatum? I don’t like that language.
Once again, I wish to re-emphasise the loss of lives and the fact that the violence shifted to Lagos. It is unlikely to recur if things move on at the projected tempo and pace.
Re-branding or Mending
We have a lot of re-branding and we have MEND, which like a coincidence, is an acronym which poses itself as a kind of conceptual option to re-branding. Is what Nigeria needs re-branding or mending that it requires? If you have a rickety vehicle for instance, if you are re-branding with a coat of paints on it, even repair some of the woods in the Bolekaja, put slogans, ‘united we stand, divided we fall,’ ‘it’s a long way to heaven,’ some of those things we used to see. We don’t see them often now. I regret them because I used to call them mobile mirrors. You cannot re-brand those things because the engine of the vehicle is still going to knock. The body work is going to fall into pieces. The paint will peel sooner or later. You have got to mend that vehicle in a very structured way. You’ve got to get to the inner workings and completely retool the components of that vehicle before you can start re-branding. Otherwise, all the expressions, trying to put a lipstick on a pig’s mouth… it is still a pig. It doesn’t turn the pig to Miss Nigeria beauty queen or beauty queen of 2020. No.
When I hear to re-brand, re-brand, my mind actually goes to mend, mend, mend. What we need to do is to mend this vehicle and mend it in a more fundamental way. And that is the question that has been passed by MEND. That is why it has been foolish all along to dismiss the militants in the Delta as a bunch of rascals as the governments had tried to do for so many years. That’s what has brought us to our present situation. Let’s not sentimentalise violence. We know what violence is. We know the violence that is being committed against Nigerian people even as I speak – violence that comes from the denial of facilities, denial of shelter, violence that comes from the basic infrastructure, that enables people to reproduce themselves. These are all forms of violence.
Are You a MEND supporter?
I am not sympathetic to MEND. But I have been involved in Delta crisis and in a very constructive way. The Nobel laureate visited the region, presented proposals to the Federal Government.
Rev. Kukah’s attack on you on Obama’s visit to Ghana
If you want to wait for Obama to come and re-brand Nigeria for you, you’ll wait for so long. You see, I know about the article you are referring to. I read it and decided to ignore all the statements because some people really have a problem with language. I would have expected somebody of Father Kukah’s intelligence to know that there are things called metaphor. There is metaphorical speaking. Anybody who thought that if Obama had come here, that I was actually going to indeed pick a stone and stone him, that person is most likely mentally troubled. That is what I can say about that. But the language, what I meant should have been clear to the entire world. So, all this is a metaphorical language. Those who have a problem with that, I am very sorry, they are mainly abusing their own intelligence. I didn’t expect that type of commentary coming from somebody of Father Kukah’s pedigree. He’s intelligent. I had worked with him on issues. It’s bit disappointing.
By RAZAQ BAMIDELE
DAILY SUN
Friday, July 24, 2009
