Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s nationwide address to Nigerians regarding the ongoing protests across the country.
In a statement released on Sunday, Soyinka expressed his disappointment and concern over the government’s handling of the protests.
Soyinka noted that the presidential address outlined the government’s remedial actions since inception but fell short in addressing the way the protest was managed.
He condemned the use of live bullets and tear gas against peaceful protesters, describing it as a “retrogression” that takes the nation back to colonial-era acts of disdain.
Soyinka said, “I set my alarm clock for this morning to ensure that I did not miss President Bola Tinubu’s impatiently awaited address to the nation on the current unrest across the nation.
“His outline of government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis. My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.
“Such short-changing of civic deserving, regrettably, goes to arm the security forces in the exercise of impunity and condemns the nation to a seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals.
“Live bullets as state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even tear gas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest. Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S, not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They belong indeed in a class of their own, never mind the collateral claims emblazoned on posters.
Peoplesmind
