Jonathan going the way of Abacha, says Soyinka

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka on Tuesday described President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration as “dictatorial”, condemning the role of Suleiman Abba, the inspector general of police in the recent tear-gassing of the national assembly.

Speaking at Freedom Park, Victoria Island, Lagos, during a media exchange titled, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity, the foremost activist added his voice to the rising concerns of Nigerians.

He said Jonathan now passed for the figure of Balthazar or Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned.

Soyinka said Nigerians must decide whether to submit or resist, saying the line has been drawn against the citizens and the occupants of Aso rock.

“The people must decide, whether to submit or resist, we may be no count plebians in the sight of the new born Patricians of Aso rock and their apologists, but must we revert to the Abacharian status of glorified slaves?” he asked.

“The latest action of the supposed guardians of law against the nation’s law givers is an unambiguous declaration of war against the people.

“The recent choice of a new leader for the guard was clearly no accident and this hitherto unknown enforcer, one Suleiman Abba, has wasted no time in inaugurating a season of brutish power.”

He commended the lawmakers for scaling the fence of the assembly complex while arguing that Abba ought to be tried for treason.

“Our legislators however have been made to perform over and beyond the call of Olympics,” he said.

“I don’t understand why some media described their action as a show of shame, the act of scaling gate and walls to fulfill their duty by the people must be set down as their finest hour.

“They must be applauded, not derided. If shame belongs anywhere, it belongs to the inspector general of police and his slavish adherence to conspiratorial, illegal and unconstitutional instructions.

“What sticks to the policeman is worse than shame, it is infamy. Such public servant deserves to be publicly pilloried, tried, and meted punishment that is appropriate to treasonable acts.”

Kongi, as he is otherwise known, commented on other topical issues in the country, including the gatherings of Obas in Ife and the abduction of Chibok girls, alleging that there could have been “a covert operation not to return the girls”.

He called on Yakubu Gowon, a former head of state, not to compare insurgency with the Biafran civil war.