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Soyinka made the case for decentralisation on Thursday at the PUNCH Newspapers’ 50th-anniversary lecture held at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The lecture, which was delivered by the Nobel laureate, is part of the weeklong activities marking the 50th anniversary of PUNCH.

Delivering his lecture titled ‘Recovering the Narrative’, Soyinka said the country should toe the path of breaking up if the path would solve the country’s challenges.

The elder statesman said decentralisation would allow governance to get closer to the people, adding that it was high time for leaders to stop taking Nigerians for a ride.

He explained that while Nigerian politicians know the importance of restructuring, they change their tune when they get to power.

He said, “What do you mean by restructuring? Well, I don’t even like the word restructuring. I use, I prefer expressions like reconfiguration and decentralisation. Everybody can grasp that, decentralisation. And those who lead, recognise the necessity of it. They recognise its importance, almost the inevitability of it until they get into power, yes, that’s the difference.

“It’s about time, I think leaders stopped taking this nation for a ride, you know, we must decentralise. Security, you know, has become a burden to bear. From all corners of the nation, that is the crime.

“Decentralised so that government can come closer to the people, and productivity can really be manifested as a product of citizens, not simply as a manna from heaven. That is the attitude obtained at the moment.

“I know the fear. The fear is collapse or breakup. That’s been the excuse given by several regimes. But suppose the nation is breaking up informally, in other words, as a fact rather than a theory. Then, you better just address this. Come straight on and see exactly what happened. What is wrong with general representatives seeing them and saying this is the protocol of our association, Anything outside of it? Anyone who does not want to accept these protocols, abide by these protocols, and manifest these protocols in the act should take a walk. I have no problem at all.

“We live in what is known as the nation, beginning as a vast football field and ending up as a ping pong table. If that is going to restore dignity to citizens,. If that is going to guarantee three square meals a day, then so be it. One of my favourite expressions with people is “Let nations die, that humanity may live.”

While speaking on those who may oppose his call for decentralisation, Soyinka said, “To anticipate accustomed banal responses, let me state quite clearly that no one has ever claimed that decentralization—a precise word I personally prefer – will end Hunger in the land or terminate religious conflicts and other forms of national malaise.

“We simply insist that this is central to the incomplete mission of nation-being. It is essential to activities of basic existence, such as food production, and access to such products. Palliatives remain crude, short-term, stop-gap measures only. As a veteran of food security working conferences from Uganda to India, from Paris to Sochi, I insist that, for a nation to be food self-sufficient, and sustainable, decentralization is the key, not collectivization.”

Founded in March 1973, PUNCH, Nigeria’s foremost newspaper, clocked 50 on March 18 last year, but its board of directors moved the 50th-anniversary celebration to this year because the anniversary month fell within an election month and year.

The 50th anniversary is being marked with the 40th anniversary of the passing of PUNCH founding Chairman, the late Chief James Olubunmi Aboderin, who died on February 28, 1984, at the age of 50.

The weeklong activities began last Saturday with a colourful novelty football match at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos.

On Wednesday, a three-day photo exhibition, showcasing 50 iconic photographs from PUNCH rich archive, opened at the Alliance Francaise de Lagos/Mike Adenuga Centre in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The gathering of intellectuals and lovers of arts was led by a former Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture in Lagos State, Steve Ayorinde, who was the curator of the exhibition.

The ceremonies will continue on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos, where PUNCH will host a black-tie dinner to acknowledge the contributions of its stakeholders to the success of our organisation.

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Soyinka said that in other cultures,  social media is still valid as a means of interaction because of the intellectual contents and reasoned engagements being deployed by users, but noted that here in the country, the reverse is the case, as those who dragged it down have swapped the intellectual quotient aspect of it.

The octogenarian who spoke on Saturday at the 48th President’s Party and his investiture as an honorary member of Abeokuta Club, Ogun State, said the situation has degenerated to a level where even a mere disagreement in an election could lead to one being labeled on social media as having a phobia about others.

At the investiture graced by the Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, and many prominent Egba sons and daughters, the playwright urged the nation’s community of intellect, minds, and creativity to rescue the country from the monstrosity of social media.

Apparently referring to the last general elections, especially the presidential election aspect of them, Soyinka said he was both astonished and flabbergasted that people were so power besotted that they could not even accept the possibility that they did not win the election, and rather than table their facts for thorough scrutiny, they resorted to demonizing others.

On his investiture as an honorary member of the Abeokuta Club, where Dr. Adewale Adeola is the president, Soyinka said it was a recognition he personally cherished, saying the club is an honourable social group, having interacted with a good number of members on a personal level.

“So, if you are ethnophobic in one direction, then pull back and become ethnophilia in the other direction and leave those who claim that they are being phobilized to wallow in their own campaign of hatred, of dehumanization of others simply because of glaring routine mundane activities as holding a political opinion, as making political observation and warning others not to plunge the society into the dark age from which we barely emerged at very cruel dictatorship, the most cruel this nation has ever had.

“I’m astonished and flabbergasted that people are so power-besotted that they can’t even accept the possibility that they did not win an election. It does not matter whether you are right or wrong, or whether they are right. It is just a question. Take your facts to the table, let’s examine them carefully, and consider the possibility that we may be wrong or you may be wrong, but you don’t have to descend into demonization of the group to which others belong in order to establish your point.

“I don’t deal in social media. As far as I’m concerned, babarians have taken over social media, and they have swapped the intellectual quotient that used to make and still makes social media valid in other societies. Here in this country, social media has been dragged down to the lowest common denominator.

“However, I believe in the community of intellect, minds, and creativity to rescue us from the monstrosity that social media has become in this country.”

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According to a statement issued on Tuesday, her family announced that Madam Aina died on November 7, 2023.The announcement indicated that a service of songs will kick off the funeral rites on Thursday, December 7 in Lagos.

The two-day rites are set to conclude on Friday, December 8, culminating in a private interment in Lagos.

She was born on April 29, 1933, and she was the first of seven children of a school teacher, Samuel Ayodele Soyinka, and trader-homemaker, Mrs. Grace Eniola Soyinka (neé Harrison) at Ake Vicarage, Abeokuta.

Tinu started her education at St. Peter’s Primary School in the Vicarage, and later at Abeokuta Grammar School (AGS), Igbein.

After her secondary education at AGS, Tinu left for England to pursue her life-long ambition to be a nurse.

She soon obtained her SRN, SEN, and Queens Nurse at South Shield and worked for a while in England before returning to Nigeria in 1959. She joined the then-Western Region at the Psychiatrist Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta.

A couple of years later, she obtained her first and second degrees in Community Nursing, respectively, at McGill University, Canada, and North Carolina University, USA. She continued working for the Western Region, first at Abeokuta and later at Akure General Hospital.

In 1963, she got married to Dr. Kola Aina, and the couple was blessed with two children, Oluyomi and Adebiyi.

Mrs T.A. Aina later joined the Federal Government Service, working at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). She rose through the ranks and became the principal of the Nursing and Midwifery School at LUTH in 1986, a position she held until her retirement in 1993. Her stellar record bears witness to her commitment to the medical profession and her delight in training new generations of nurses. Mrs. Aina retired into a new phase of professional life and community involvement.

Shortly after retirement, she took the initiative to start an advisory clinic at her church, The Christ King’s Church, which she ran with two other retired nurses and church members, Mrs Ajetumobi and Mrs Olubi; both preceded her in death. Although located on church premises, the clinic is open to all members of the community, irrespective of faith or creed, and is completely free. Even though she was frail, she regularly attended the clinic until early this year.

The matriarch of the Soyinka family, “Tinu,” was a caring, loving, and devoted mother, sister, aunt, and cousin. She kept the family united and left behind a strong, happy legacy.

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Soyinka accused the leadership of the opposition party of trying to force “a lie” on Nigerians, especially youths, that Obi won the election.

The Nobel laureate spoke at an event titled “The Lives of Wole Soyinka — A Dialogue” organised by Africa in the World.

The event took place on Wednesday in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

While speaking at the event, Soyinka was asked to react to his comment against Datti Baba-Ahmed, LP vice-presidential candidate, after the general election.

Soyinka said the truth matters to him, noting that many people always look for shortcuts.

The Nobel laureate said he was armed with facts when he invaded a radio station in Ibadan in 1965.

He added that he was not relying on “third-hand information” about the result of the 1965 regional election.

Soyinka accused the LP of taking over the organised labour movement in the build-up to the 2023 election.

He noted that Obi achieved “something remarkable” by breaking the monopoly of power established by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“This recent election – two things happened first of all. One party took over the labour movement, which is not my favourite movement, and then it became a regional party,” he said.

“Whereas it was a marvellous breach into the established two camps. Peter Obi achieved something remarkable there, that he broke that mould. However, he did not win the election.

“I can say categorically that Peter Obi’s party came third not even second and the leadership knew it but they want to do what we call in Yoruba ‘gbajue’, that is force of lies.”

Soyinka also alleged that the LP leadership attempted to mobilise young people to protest against the outcome of the election on the “banner of lies and deceit”.

“They were going to send some of the hardliners, proud young people into the street to demonstrate,” he said.

“I’m also ready to be among such demonstrators but only on the banner of truth not on lies, and deceit.

“This party wanted the same thing (referring to 2011 post-election violence) to happen on the basis of a lie and we find this vice-presidential candidate on television boasting, insisting, threatening and trying to intimidate both the judiciary and the rest.

“What kind of government will result from that kind of conduct? In addition, they did not know this but they were being used.

“Before the election, there were certain clandestine forces, including some ex-generals, who were already calling for an interim government before the elections began.

“Some of them were known figures, including a proprietor of a university calling for an interim government before the election took place.”

In March, Soyinka and LP were at loggerheads over comments made by Baba-Ahmed on the outcome of the presidential election.

On March 22, Baba-Ahmed, in an interview with Channels TV, said the country has no president-elect despite the declaration of Bola Tinubu, flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu should not be sworn in as president because he “did not meet requirements of the law”.

Reacting to the comment, Soyinka said the LP vice-presidential candidate’s words contained “fascistic language” and that has “never heard anyone threaten the judiciary on television the way Datti did”.

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Abati was commenting on Buhari’s interview with ARISE TV last week Thursday.

Several critics including Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, and Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state, had claimed that Nigeria is being run through proxies and that Buhari is not in charge of the nation’s affairs.

Some others have alleged that the president’s spokespersons have been airing their opinions and not those of their principal.

But Abati, who was among the team that spoke to the president, said the interview proved that Buhari is in the know of things in the country.

He said the president is in charge and “showed no hesitation in restating some of his reported views and taking ownership of them despite the controversial nature of those views”.

“His submission to a media conversation is also a form of protection for his spokespersons. Many have accused Garba Shehu, Femi Adesina and Alhaji Lai Mohammed of speaking for themselves, and not for the President, but we have all seen a President, speaking for himself, whose views do not contradict what his aides have been telling us,” Abati said.

“Our interview with him also proved the point that there is no doubting the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari is effectively in charge. He knows what is going on. And he showed no hesitation in restating some of his reported views and taking ownership of them despite the controversial nature of those views.”

Abati said the Buhari interview “has further revealed how divided we are as a nation”.

He urged the president to address Nigerians more often.

“Whoever advised President Buhari to grant media interviews last week and also address the nation on Saturday, June 12, did him a big favour. The intensity of media appearance was a good move, even if it came rather late,” he said.

“Every President has his or her own style but deliberately playing possum should not be part of that style. President Buhari should speak more often to Nigerians. He should sit down at Presidential media chats.

“Nigeria is not a feudal system where the aristocrat treats the people with disdain. In a democracy, the man of power is accountable to the people who expect their leaders to continually justify why they must be in power and office.”

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There have been allegations of high-handedness and extrajudicial killings against the security outfit.

Speaking when he featured on Arise Television programme on Saturday, Soyinka said Amotekun operatives must be trained on ethics so that they do not end up on the wrong side of history.

“Community policing like Amotekun is a recognition of the fact that the civic part of the entire national polity has got to wake up in not just its own defense but survival,” he said.

“I have told them anytime you want us to come and assist, we will come even if it is just on the ethical session so that as you are training them to defend us, we are also training their minds so that Amotekun does not become another SARS, very important. We must do everything together.

“It is about time the public examined itself; what are we made up of? Are there those among us who, if they got into power, will behave exactly as those kinds of agencies which we are repudiating and against which we are protesting? There is absolutely no excuse for the brutality that occurred in the wake of the noise, rumour, reality of people being shot at the Lekki tollgate.”

Clarifying his recent statement that talking about the existence of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not good for his sanity, Soyinka ask Nigerians to learn to take responsibility for their own survival.

He also urged other states yet to launch their security outfits to do so quickly as the insecurity in the country has reached a “stage of desperation”.

“I can tell you exactly what I meant by that. I meant that we citizens have got to take a very good look at huge gap in governance, the lacuna in governance in this nation, and then take responsibility for their own survival,” he said.

“This is what makes our own responsibilities for ourselves as citizens even more difficult because when drama like that happens we go to the very heart of our existence as human beings to see our children have been swept up not for the first time and we cannot have a clear sequence of events articulated by the security agencies, by the government so that we can even take on our own against such events happening in the nation.

“But when we reach that stage you no longer talk of a nation but of a contraption struggling along. The sovereignty of this nation is in the hands of murdering herdsmen; the sovereignty of this nation has already been taken over by Boko Haram, Islam, those who do nothing at the slightest respect for what is called national integrity.

“I am very glad that northern elites are now speaking out boldly and practically and at the same time all these states, I’d like them to come out, passing these message to those who have not yet launched their own Amotekun. If they don’t hurry, I will launch my own o.”

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The bill seeking to regulate water resources has generated criticism, with many, including Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, kicking against it.

Those who have expressed displeasure over the bill accused the federal government of making move to control the entire water resources of the country.

The proposed law was first introduced in the eighth national assembly but it was not passed at the time.

In July, the bill was reintroduced in the house of representatives and has been passed. The bill is currently awaiting concurrence by the senate.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Mohammed explained that the bill is a consolidation of four existing laws aimed at the efficient management of water resources in the country.

“Gentlemen, there is nothing new about the National Water Resources Bill. This is because it is an amalgamation of Water Resources Laws that have been in existence for a long time,” Mohammed said.

“These are; Water Resources Act, Cap W2 LFN 2004, River Basin Development Authority Act, Cap R9 LFN 2004, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency(Establishment) Act, Cap N1100A, LFN 2004; National Water Resources Institute Act, Cap N83 LFN 2004

“So, why are the laws being repackaged as the National Water Resources Bill 2020? The answer is that they are being re-enacted with necessary modifications to bring them in line with current global trends as well as best practices in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

“The overall objective of this amalgamation is the efficient management of the water resources sector for the economic development of Nigeria and the wellbeing of its citizens.

“Contrary to what is being perpetuated, water resources in a state that do not go beyond the particular state are not regulated by this bill.

“You can now see that many of those condemning the National Water Resources Bill 2020 either have not read it or do not understand its provisions. Also, we cannot rule out deliberate mischief by some of those who have been portraying the Bill as a new source of conflict.

“We are therefore using this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians to avail themselves of the provisions of the bill to avoid being misled by those who have chosen to politicise it. We also want to state that the bill is for the good of the nation, and has no hidden agenda whatsoever.”

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He said “It is only through collective action that we can stay ahead of the criminal elements who rob our countries and our citizens of their present and their future.

“We must also work hard to build cooperation and mutual understanding. We must insist that recovered stolen assets be returned to countries of origin, without any preconditions in line with article 51 UNCAC”.

Osinbajo, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the opening ceremony of the 8th Annual General Meeting and Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa, held at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, May 14, 2018 also reiterated the commitment of the current administration to the corruption fight.

Describing corruption as “a crime against humanity”, he said it was only through “collaborations and mutual understanding amongst African countries”, that the scourge can be eliminated.

“Recovered funds must also be returned to countries of origin without preconditions,” he added.

While acknowledging the “complex nature” of obtaining legal assistance in repatriating looted funds, he said, “as a global challenge, corruption must be tackled globally.”

He further noted that “the fight against corruption is futile, if proceeds of corruption find safe haven”.

He said: “Fighting corruption is futile, if proceeds of corruption finds safe haven. Regrettably, the procedures to obtain mutual legal assistance to seize, confiscate, to repatriate proceeds of corruption are often so complex.

“Corruption is a global challenge and it requires global collaboration to tackle it. We need to break down the walls and collaborate. African countries must come together to address this issue.”

Osinbajo used the opportunity to request that foreign states should agree to apply the highest possible standards of transparency at all stages. He called on governments of African states to more actively provide money, moral and legal support for anti-corruption agencies.

“We must provide adequate resources to investigate, to adequately improve operatives, to protect their families and to protect whistleblowers,” he said.

Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary General, Commonwealth, while describing the conference as “a demonstration that we are all eager to create a paradigm shift”, said the next four days will avail the delegations, opportunity to meet with the challenges of one another.

“We will be seeking to meet the challenges of one another over the next four days. This conference is a demonstration that we are all eager to create a paradigm shift”, Scotland said.

In his welcome remarks, the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said that the anti-corruption fight as the cardinal point of the present’s administration was not accidental.

“I say unrestrained and unqualified advisedly, but really, President Buhari gives us the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, unrestrained support, qualified only by his insistence that the anti-corruption war be carried out under the strict, unyielding guidance of law,” he said.

Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd), called on public servants to be honest and transparent, stressing that they should be constantly checked, to ensure they do not tamper with public funds.

His words “In my time, we believed everything belonged to the country and so we never touched anything. We must try to make sure that our leaders are checked to make sure they don’t touch the nation’s coffers. Let the leaders be honest with themselves”.

On his own part, Prof. Wole Soyinka said, “Until we make sure some of our leaders pass through the jail doors of the new EFCC headquarters, the fight against corruption will not be won”.

The conference, which will run till May 18, 2018 has as its theme: “Partnering towards Assets Recovery and Return”.

Other dignitaries at the event include, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), Comptroller General Nigerian Customs Service, Hammed Ali, Speaker House of Representative Yakubu Dogara, represented by Kayode Oladele, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, Thabo Mbeki, for President of South Africa, Paulus Noa, Director General Namibia ACC, amongst others.

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The 80-year-old writer, who has taken an active role in African politics for more than 50 years, says he fears there are “clear indications of a military intervention.”

Soyinka told DW: “Ex military officers and security officers are trying to push aside the political contestants and use the unrest as an excuse to establish an interim government. The nature of the interim government wants to pretend it’s not really a military intervention. A few political leaders, well-known civilians, want to give the veneer of civilian structure, but basically it’s a kind of political intervention.”

The presidential election in Nigeria, Africa’s strongest economy, was originally scheduled to take place in February before it was postponed by six weeks. The vote pits Christian incumbent Goodluck Jonathan against Muslim Muhammadu Buhari.

Soyinka says his country “is aspiring very hard to become a failed state.” Speaking about the more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by terror group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria a year ago, he expressed little hope that “the majority of them” will ever be found. Despite military gains made by troops from neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, Soyinka believes there’s no chance of a rapid victory over the jihadist group. “It will take a generation at least to exterminate this phenomenon altogether. The military would not have had to cope with Boko Haram on this level if the proper action had been taken at the right time. This is the biggest the problem I have with the Jonathan government.”

Soyinka also laments the increasingly aggressive direction the election campaign in Nigeria is taking. Recently, the president’s wife Patience Jonathan called on her husband’s followers to stone people who demanded a different leader. Political observers saw this as a call for violence against the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is campaigning on a platform of change.

Soyinka told DW that while he doesn’t support the opposition’s move to file criminal charges against the First Lady in the International Criminal Court, her comments should not go unchecked.

“What she said was totally unacceptable. I no longer regard her as the First Lady of Nigeria,” he said.

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