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Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday in Kaiama, Bayelsa State openly disagreed with the position of the federal government that the unity of Nigeria was non-negotiable, insisting that what was non-negotiable was the right of the people to self-determination and to freely decide their future.
On the same day, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar remarked that no amount of effort aimed at suppressing the agitation for restructuring of the federation would succeed.
Just about two weeks ago, Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo reiterated the position of the Buhari administration, declaring that Nigeria remaining as one nation was a done deal, but speaking during the interactive session in Kaiama tagged “A Day with Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka” with students of the Ijaw National Academy, the literary icon said it was not only hypocritical, but dictatorial for the federal government to maintain the position on Nigeria’s unity.
The professor of Comparative Literature noted that all countries the world over were products of negotiations, stressing that Nigerian leaders who hold a contrary view were missing the point.
“We are mixing up the argument. When people say, especially former leaders and especially those who bear enormous responsibility for the question of breaking up or not breaking up, our roles in the first place, it always sounds hypocritical, dogmatic and dictatorial and that statement is that the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable.
“Now, that for me is a falsity. Anything is negotiable. The right of people to determine their future is what is non-negotiable. Most nations came to be through negotiations”, he asserted.
The 1987 Nobel prize winner who was on the podium with several other literary icons from Ijaw land, including Prof. John Pepper Clark; 96-year-old poet, Dr. Gabriel Okara and Prof Joe Alagoa, a popular historian, said it was wrong to assume that a country where a part bears the burden of taking care of a wieldy whole should not be negotiated.
He continued: “Sometimes when people say negotiate, what they really mean is restructure. Should Nigeria break up? And my answer to that is no, but please don’t tell me that Nigeria as it stands is not negotiable. For me, it is a fallacy. The nation has got to be negotiated. Negotiation includes ensuring that there is no marginalisation.
“Negotiation has to do with control of resources; negotiation has to do with structuring the nation in such a way that the components, constituents are not feeding an over-bloated centre to the detriment of their own development.
“So, Nigeria is negotiable. What we should say is: what are you willing to sacrifice? What efforts are you willing to make to ensure that Nigeria remains intact? That is the citizen question.
Soyinka was reacting to remarks by Dr. Odia Ofeimun, who compeered the session, advising that Nigerians should continue to re-echo the indivisibility of the country, especially in these trying times.
Dickson, who spoke thereafter, aligned with Soyinka, saying that for the benefit of the young people present at the occasion, everything must be questioned.
“Let me for the benefit of our young people make this clear, God in his infinite wisdom has endowed mankind with several gifts and one of the most important is your ability to reason and use your mind.
“I believe that there is every reason for us to say that we will not circumscribe our minds on any issues. In the course of our education, throughout your life, however illustrious, your education is meaningless unless you have the capacity to question any and every notion”, the governor said.
While agreeing with Soyinka’s position, he noted that though it was desirable to have a united Nigeria, it was nevertheless important to renegotiate the terms.
“I believe that the continued existence of our nation as an indivisible entity is desirable. There is a very strong case to be made for that. After all, our people have been funding the Nigerian experiment for the last 61 years.
“From your backyards they carve out portions of land in Lagos and Abuja and other capitals of the world and call them oil blocks. And I have said that what they sit down in their cozy offices and call oil blocks and give to whoever they choose to give are actually your (Niger Delta communities) ancestral properties.
“That is why we continue to raise issues about environmental justice. What is going on in all your communities I have described severally as environmental terrorism. Nobody should tell us that there is nothing to negotiate.
“There are too many things to negotiate. In this state we have only eight local government areas as decreed by the powers that be. And yet there are states that have forty.
“So, we get less than one quarter of what others get. The local governments can no longer pay salaries because they have no control over what we produce.
“The continued existence of Nigeria is desirable, but Nigerians, all of us have issues to bring to the table for amicable resolution so that we can make our union more enduring and sustainable. There is no shame; no crime in doing that.”
Dr. Ofeimun had earlier held that the nation’s economy was crippled not only because the international prices of crude oil had fallen but because the states had been emasculated of the powers they used to possess.
Source: This Day
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