Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, claims that it is irrelevant where the next president, vice president, and speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria originate from or what religion they practise.
On August 22, 2022, Soyinka appeared in a pre-recorded interview that aired on Channels Television’s NewsNight.
“I don’t give a damn if the president, the vice-President, the speaker, etc all come from the same village, they have the same religion, they belong to the same tribe,” Soyinka said when asked about his thoughts on the controversy that has trailed the Muslim-Muslim All Progressives Congress presidential ticket.
“If, however, it is transparently, absolutely, unarguable that is a kind of genius breed that has been donated to the nation and to the world. As long as the capability of the individuals who are into governance is proven, and it is quite clear that there is no alternative, that is my position.”
Soyinka noted that the same faith ticket won’t be a problem in a “normal society” and that Nigeria hasn’t attained such a “norm”.
“Now, we are talking about a society which is normal, which institutions are normal…Is Nigeria normal?” he asked.
According to Soyinka, there are unspoken agreements that exhibit Nigeria’s diversity and peculiarities, and the ruling party ought to have been perceptive enough to recognise these arrangements and steer clear of needless controversies.
“We’ve had unspoken arrangements in recognition of the peculiarity of this particular society. And so, it shouldn’t surprise you or me that a number of people find that kind of choice very questionable and unwise, especially at this time.
“I can understand that perfectly and at the same time, I recognise the right of the proposed incumbent to choose who he wants to run with if he gets ultimately into power. That is right is there? However, that right is not absolute because we are talking about a relative society which Nigeria is right now.”
“And so, we are in a very difficult situation and the question I ask now is: why create a controversy? Are there options that should have prevented such a controversy? Why not be very sensitive to the very peculiar circumstances of Nigeria?” he queried.
The campaigners for a same-faith ticket, in his opinion, had to “be extremely sensitive to the very particular conditions of Nigeria” and look into alternatives that have proven successful for the nation.
APC presidential contender and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, had named former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate. The fact that Tinubu and Shettima are Muslims has continued to draw harsh condemnation from groups like the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, and Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, among others.
I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before.
Thank you.
Magnificent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too wonderful. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it smart. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a great web site.