Deal with the substance of Obasanjo’s comment on insecurity, Soyinka urges FG

Ebun Francis|

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government not to ignore ex-president Obasanjo’s comment on the rising insecurity in the country.

According to him, the government should deal with its substance of Obasanjo’s submissions instead of dismissing them entirely.

Soyinka who gave the advise while speaking at an event organised by the United Bank of Africa to mark the 2019 Africa Day, in Lagos, on Wednesday, said leaders should not pre occupied by the “marvelous concept of unity” to the point of ignoring the issues that threaten the existence of the nation and its people.

He said, “We should be careful not to be too dismissive over the matter. The Federal Government is leaving aside the substance, which is the high level of kidnapping, youth suicide and terrorism in the country. I support unity in Africa but we need to particularize the area of unity we seek. Even Boko Haram also tries to unify everybody.”

“Everybody knows me and Obasanjo, and I think we should be careful not to be too dismissive or abrasive. The language must be put aside and let us deal with the substance.

“Let us analyse carefully what the (former) president has said. I was listening to the Minister of Information; they are living aside the substance and dealing with the person. Obasanjo also called for a meeting to deal with the social malaise of suicide, kidnapping, noting that we had better sit down and tackle this issues.”

It will be recalled that last week Obasanjo said the Boko Haram crisis had become an agenda for “West African Fulanization and African Islamisation,” a comment the federal government described as absurd and divisive.