Soyinka Backs Achebe
From Laolu Akande, New York
NOBEL laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has defended the rights of his counterpart, Professor Chinua Achebe to reject the Federal Government's offer of a national award.
He wondered how Achebe could have accepted the offer in the light of the lingering political crises in his home state of Anambra.
Soyinka spoke yesterday morning in an exclusive chat with The Guardian on the situation in Anambra State. He frowned at the purported reconciliation of Governor Chris Ngige and his estranged political godfather, Chief Chris Uba.
He said, "the matter goes beyond the individuals, as crime against the entire polity has been committed, and if otherwise it is not treated, a culture of impunity is being installed."
But Governor Ngige has confidently endorsed the reconciliation with Uba and his group on the platform of a peace committee headed by Governor Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State.
Ngige told The Guardian in Abuja on Thursday that the aggrieved people needed to be reconciled. His words:
"There has been a lot of bad blood, a lot of misinformation. The PDP in Anambra is factionalised. There is the main component of the party, which is with me; there are those following Uba; and there are people, who are standing on the fence and watching.
"All the people need to be brought together so that we can have one party again. And in the course of doing that we may be able to heal some wounds."
Nonetheless, the governor agreed that a crime was committed by the actions of the attackers, emphasising; "the only thing I know is that the action (of the arsonists) is felony. I know that burning and looting are under felony."
Defending Achebe's rejection of a national award of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) for which he was nominated recently, Soyinka said:
"I don't know why there is the slightest surprise that my friend, Chinua Achebe will turn down the offer of national honour when his state is being treated with dishonour. Achebe has a right to reject the honour."
Besides, Soyinka noted that President Obasanjo would need to curb the utterances of his aide. One of the President's aides, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode had reacted to Achebe's response, rejecting the award. But Soyinka observed that Fani-Kayode's response was "uncouched" and should not be encouraged by the President.
He described a situation in Anambra State where the governor was without security as "absolute farce, which has gone on for too far." He said that kind of approach to the problem from the executive arm could only breed and escalate into a state of anomie.
According to Soyinka, he had warned since the "high level abduction" of the governor in Anambra, that to call this a "family affair, is to say the least unfortunate. It is an installation of impunity, an assault on the integrity of the state."
He said it was in a situation of absolute impunity that the recent conflagration had taken place.
The playwright said such a situation shows clearly that criminality is on the loose in the state, demanding that the time for a definite action to avert the "farce" in Anambra is now.
Wondering why no one has yet been apprehended for the crimes committed in the recent carnage, Soyinka said: "The figures are well known; it is incredible such individuals have not been apprehended."
He expressed concern that some people are being made to feel as "sacred cows," condemning the double standards that such a situation exposes.
Soyinka, who is among the very few number of academics in the US to hold down two top-rated professorial chairs - at Emory University, Atlanta and University of Nevada - both at once, commended the House of Representatives, which had passed a resolution condemning the attacks on Anambra State.
He said it was heartwarming that the House is "waking up at last to its responsibilities." But he wondered why the House should wait for the Federal Government to compose a commission of inquiry into the crisis, when it does have the powers itself to set up such a commission.
Calling for an urgent composition of the commission, Soyinka noted that such a body would set up adequate compensation and enforce rigorous punishments.
But he added that it is not only the House of Representatives that should be concerned about Anambra, but also the Senate. Both houses, he argued, has the responsibility to take action now.
The writer and artist said the National Assembly owes the people of Anambra and the entire nation, and therefore cannot afford to sit passively when any part of the nation is burning.
Said he: "The House of Representatives should not be bamboozled, it can't be business as usual; a crime against the corporate entity of Nigeria has been committed."
Commenting on reports of embrace and peace talks between factions to the crises in Anambra after the latest attacks, Soyinka said he believes in reconciliation, but there cannot be one without restitution, and restitution includes punishment.
Said he: "Lives have been lost, a crime has been committed, state-owned property has been destroyed," asking that in such circumstances, is it proper for two people to symbolically embrace over a crime that is still fresh?
"The matter goes beyond the individuals, crime against the entire polity has been committed, and if otherwise it is not treated, a culture of impunity is being installed. We've had embraces like this before. This is a cancerous growth in the body of the nation and it's got to be taken out."
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