Soyinka berates Nigerian Police for plotting to scuttle anti-FG protest

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has berated the Nigerian police for seeking to stop the protest planned by a musician, 2face Idibia, against Federal Government alleged non-performance. He described the police action as undemocratic.
Though 2face has backed down on the protest scheduled for Monday (today) in Lagos citing security concern as reason, the National Association of Nigerian Students, the Enough is Enough group and a popular comedian, Olaseyitan Lawrence, popularly known as Seyilaw, have said in spite of the musician’s action, the protest would not be called off.

Soyinka’s position was contained in an article he sent to an online medium, SaharaReporters, on Sunday.

The Nobel laureate, who said he had sent a message to the Inspector-General of Police, through the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, declared that  he was shocked to learn from media reports that the office of the IG could issue a statement stopping the protest.

He described the action as “a huge disappointment, a disservice to the cause of democracy, tolerance of dissent, and principle of inclusive governance.”

Soyinka said, “The police attempt to reverse the hands of the democratic clock is even more appalling at a time when open demonstrations are taking place all over the world against the policies of a recently elected President of the United States, (Donald Trump), whose democratic formula allegedly serves as Nigeria’s adopted model. Across numerous states of that federated nation, ongoing at this very moment, is the public expression of rejection of a President’s policy that has also pitted the executive against the judiciary. We have heard of no preventive action by the police, or arrests of demonstrators.

“Again and again, efforts, both under military and civilian orders have been made to stifle the rights to freedom of expression by Nigerian governments – Buhari, Babangida, Obasanjo, Abacha, Jonathan….and now again, Buhari? These efforts have been, and will always be resisted. It is a moral issue, as old as settled humanity. It has been settled in other parts of the world. Nigeria cannot be an exception, not as long as her citizens refuse to accept the designation of second, even third-rate citizens.”