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| Prof Wole Soyinka |
By Achiever Peterson
Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, on Friday in Yenagoa,
faulted arguments by some people that Nigeria should not be restructured.
According to him, while the country should not be left as it
is, Nigeria is negotiable.
He said this in Yenagoa, during a colloquium with the theme:
"A day with the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka and Ijaw literary icons,"
held at the Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama, Bayesla State, and moderated by
renowned poet, Odia Ofeimun.
At the event, which was also graced by other literary giants
including Dr. Gabriel Okara, Prof Ebiegberi Alagoa and Prof John Pepper Clark,
Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, said Nigeria’s unity is
negotiable.
Soyinka said, “My response is simple. We must stop confusing
and mixing up the argument, we are mixing up the argument. It is very
unfortunate for our leaders to say that the question of breaking up or not
breaking up should not arise in the first place. It all sounds hypocritical,
dogmatic and dictatorial. The statement is the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable,
now that to me is a falsititude.
“Anything is negotiable; the right for people to determine
their future is what is non-negotiable. Most nations came to being through
negotiation.
“Sometimes, when people say negotiate, what they really mean
is restructuring. What the question should be is: Should Nigeria break up? My
answer to that is no, but please, don’t tell me that Nigeria, as it stands, is
non-negotiable. For me, this is a fallacy.
“The nation has got to be negotiated. Negotiation includes
ensuring that there is no marginalisation. Negotiation means control of
resources, negotiation has to do with restructuring a nation in a way that the
components and constituents are not feeding an over bloated centre to the
detriment of their development. The language we should use is what are you
willing to sacrifice? What effort are you willing to make to ensure Nigeria
remains intact? That is the question.”
Also speaking, Dickson said while the unity of Nigeria is
desirable and negotiable, aggrieved nationalities should sit down and dialogue.
"Nigeria’s unity is negotiable and desirable. The
answer on whether to break up is no. There is a desire to stay as one. Ask
questions about what is happening, there are several things to negotiate.
"If we can control our resources, we will do more for
our people. All we need to do is to talk about existence, our living together.
Let's sit down and talk."
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