Prof. Wole Soyinka

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When, last week, Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, engaged former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, on the Cable News Network, no one was taken aback by his point-blank description of the former minister as a liar.

It was the quintessential Soyinka whose voice had been the much sought after especially in moments such as Nigeria is passing through.

Soyinka has straddled the political scene for as long as most politicians including the present crop can remember. As far back as 1965, he had shown his dislike for tyranny, oppression and misrule when he allegedly seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio to make a broadcast demanding the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional elections believed to have been rigged.

During the struggle for the enthronement of democracy, Soyinka was visible on the political scene; speaking against the government of late Sani Abacha. He floated Radio Kudirat International to ensure Nigeria's return to democratic governance and embarked on self-exile in 1993 while the Abacha government pronounced a death sentence on him in absentia. 11 years after the return to civil rule, he remains active, outspoken and in the forefront of the actualisation of good governance and adherence to the rule of law.

Since his return from the United States on January 6, he has been vocal as usual, addressing journalists on two different occasions, participating in the Save Nigeria Group's Abuja Rally on January 12, condemning President Umaru YarAdua's continuous absence; an aftermath of which heated the polity, lamenting Nigeria's inclusion in the United States list of security risk states and calling for mass civil disobedience, 'the kind that will bring the government to its knees and make it do the right thing.'

But, for the first time in his many struggles, Soyinka seems to be confused, he does not know, if "Nigeria is in a post meridian or post mortem state."

At a media briefing recently, Soyinka said, "Has Nigeria reached the peak of its sunlight and we are in the post meridian state, or are things so bad that we need a post mortem to be conducted on this country?"

His outburst was not unrelated to his erstwhile comments on the state of the nation since the 'Absent President's' episode began. He has also not been silent on the alleged signing of the 2009 Supplementary budget by the President from his sick bed in Saudi Arabia.

Soyinka had also told newsmen at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on January 6, that, "the screening exercise at the airport in the United States was strenuous."

Craving the indulgence of the journalists to spare him further questions because he had been flying for several hours, Soyinka had said he would speak on the state of the nation at a later date.

Since then, he has spoken, not once, not twice but several times.

At a media chat, he said, Nigeria's listing on the US' security risk list was harassment to Nigerians.

He said, "The decision of the US to include Nigeria among countries whose citizens will undergo extra security screening before boarding flights to the US is punishment to Nigerians. The extra security screening at the airports could make a lot of Nigerians who have engagements in other countries, especially US to cancel their trips, I am already thinking along that direction. I am already revisiting my dairy to put off some trips. Travelling on its own is a burden; the situation at the moment has further been worsened by this restriction."

Again, to Soyinka, the victims of the US' decision are the ordinary citizens of Nigeria and not the government.

"What the US did is a punishment to Nigerians, not the government. They are harassing the people by that decision. Agreed we have our internal problems as a country, they would have looked at other ways of dealing with the problem," he said.

On the President's absence, Soyinka has also spoken; first at a media chat, then at the SNG rally in Abuja.

But, speaking about the President, Soyinka said his decision to travel abroad for medical treatment without handing over to Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan was an insult. However, to him, the precedent for what happened in the country was set during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. According to him, Nigeria began to break apart during the Obasanjo era.

"Unfortunately, this country began to break apart during the tenure of Obasanjo. When we look at the actions of Obasanjo, you will begin to know that he had programmed the country for disintegration. Obasanjo's deliberate inactions for allowing the Sharia law run in a circular form was one instance. We had two different systems of government. That was one instance," he said.

Not one to overlook an iota of bad governance or a lie-cloaked truth, Soyinka said a panel of enquiry should be set up to investigate the President's signature on the 2009 Supplementary budget, in order to ensure that he was the one who actually signed it.

"Lies are being exposed including forgery; did the President truly sign the 2009 supplementary budget? I think a commission should be established to find out if he actually signed," Soyinka said.

Three days after the Abuja rally, where Soyinka addressed a mammoth crowd and charged Nigerians to arise and claim their sovereignty, he addressed journalists again in Lagos, where he expressed his fears on the state of the nation.

"The nation is completely comatose; the situation can be likened to the plastic zone of congealed palm oil during a long harmattan siege. The critical mass has been reached, cracks will begin here and there and people will be constrained to push. We will see the manifestations in the actions of the citizens within and outside the country," he said.

Soyinka said due to the absence of the President, governance had been put on hold, while nobody was saying anything about the Niger-Delta issue.

Speaking extensively on the incessant crisis in the Niger-Delta and talks about electoral reform, Soyinka said the rehabilitation issue and post-amnesty plans had been put on hold while those brought out of the creeks on the basis of a process of rehabilitation were not being told anything.

He noted that the President had set in motion a certain process to begin immediately after Ramadan. "What happened to that process?" he asked.

"Nigerians need to ask what happened to the proposal for electoral reform. Who is acting on it? Who is working on the reform? Who is tinkering with it? Why are we in the doldrums? Is it so that events will overtake electoral reforms, is it so that Nigerians will forget about the reform and we will go into the 2011 elections like sheep?

"We do not have a constitution; we only have a document pretending to be a constitution. It is a military centralist document which ensures re-enslavement," he added.

The nation, according to Soyinka, is sick just like the President, adding, 'Only that the President is receiving treatment." The Nobel Laureate however added that a certain cabal wanted the country to remain sick because of what its members were enjoying.

"The nation and the President are sick, both need to be healed, but at least, the President is receiving treatment," he said.

Soyinka said those who did not want the President to recover comprised the cabal that was secretly controlling affairs.

He said, "They are all corrupt, some of them elected, some of them unelected, they want uncertainty to continue for as long as possible so as to reinvent themselves for the 2011 election. They are the ones who wish the President would never return."

The solution to the crises in the nation, Soyinka said lies with Nigerians, saying they alone could decide what they want by engaging in actions of civil disobedience.

Urging Nigerians to prepare for massive campaigns of civil disobedience in order to compel those in positions of authority to do the right thing, Soyinka noted that this would only be avoided unless government listened to the yearnings of the people.

"Nigerians are close to the explosive point and the situation has been worsened by the comatose state of the nation." he declared.