Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate and
Nigerian playwright, has said that the administration of the former president
Goodluck Jonnathan left a “heavy baggage” and “burden”. He noted that it would
take time for President Muhammadu Buhari to clear the rot he inherited from his
predecessor.
The Nation reports that Soyinka
expressed his opinion speaking at a public lecture titled “Politics, Culture
and the New Africa” held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“This (Buhari)
administration has inherited a heavy baggage. While I am critical in some
aspects of the priority, I think that to clear up the mess left by previous
administrations is going to take quite a while, especially in the economy
sector. So, I don’t use words like optimism or pessimism; I’m just pragmatic. I
look at what is on the ground and, of course, wherever I can intervene, I do
both privately and publicly,” he said.
Another renowned author Professor
Kole Omotoso said that the president and his administration were going in the
right direction. However, he added that Buhari must intensify his effort to
alleviate sufferings of Nigerians. “We are going in the right direction but in
the process, we need to do so many things. We need to look at not just the
suffering of the people but the way people seem to indulge in bearing
suffering. It is as if even if you try to solve the problem for them they will
prefer to be suffering and smiling,” he said.
A few weeks ago, Soyinka criticized
the presidency for its inability to stop the continual attacks of Fulani
herdsmen. According to him, the President Buhari-led administration was yet to
come up with an articulate solution to tackle the menace. “I have yet to hear
this government articulate a firm policy of non-tolerance for the serial
massacres that have become the nation’s identification stamp. “I have not heard
an order given that any cattle herders caught with sophisticated firearms be
instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial, and his cattle confiscated,” he
said.
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