Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has decried the state of Nigeria today, saying that the country is in a mess and disintegrating.

He lamented that the government is devoid of a holistic solution to the problems in the nation and called on the Federal Government to stop treating Nigerians like criminals and illegal immigrants.

According to him, there is need to find a way of pilling up pressure to enable us to meet as equal beings across the entire nation; a national indaba involving the various ethnic groups.

Soyinka, who stated this on Thursday, at a press conference in Lagos to share his harrowing experience trying to come back to Nigeria from France said, “We are in a mess. This country is in a mess. It is disintegrating before our very eyes. The government is floundering. It is not only that the government is devoid of a holistic solution, the problem really is that this government does not have a holistic grasp of the problems in the nation and the environment in which we live; and the time also in which we live in.

“Look at Sudan, it is in turmoil simply because some people got up one day and decided that an arrangement for the governance of that nation should be abrogated by their carrying the guns. And of course, the people have responded in a marvelous way; doctors, workers, students, market people, they all got out and said no. part of the problems which we have and which has plagued us, except for a few times, is this ability to act in concert.

“From time to time, we have a section of the nation come together and say enough; we are human beings, we will not be treated like beasts. Like #EndSARS, for instance, was one such movement that unfortunately, ended up somewhat tragically. But it doesn’t matter; it was a step in the right direction.

“What I am trying to say to you is that if we’re still looking to this government for solution, then I think we really are lost. We better find a way of pilling up pressure to enable us to meet as equal beings across the entire nation; a national movement involving the various professions, the various interest groups, ethnic groups. Any sector, productive sector of this nation should be encouraged to come together and really debate the future of this nation. We are going along piecemeal solutions all the time.

“One way or the other, one misses that sense of a grasp of the totality and understanding of the connection of one part of governance, one part civic societies, to the others, ethnic nationality to other, given the possibility of evolving an ideology, and trajectory which enable this large piece of real estate with its people to hold together in a productive and dignified and egalitarian manner. This, at the moment, is what is missing,” he said.

The erudite scholar and renowned dramatist recalled he spent days in Paris, France trying to get permission to come back to Nigeria.

(New Telegraph)

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