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Nobel laureate, Prof.Wole Soyinka, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s
comment that his government is willing to violate the law for national
security, is a warning to Nigerians in advance of a coming dictator.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
conference last Sunday, Mr Buhari claimed it was a settled law that
national security should always trump the rule of law.
In a Statement, Soyinka recalled how Buhari as a Military dictator,
tampered with freedom and sent two Journalists-Irabor and Thompson-to
jail, warning that while the timing of the president’s comment is right,
Nigerians should be thankful for the advance warning.
Read full statement:
SOYINKA’S FULL STATEMENT
Here we go again! At his first coming, it was “I intend to tamper with
Freedom of the Press”, and Buhari did proceed to suit action to the words,
sending two journalists – Irabor and Thompson – to prison as a reward for
their professional integrity. Now, a vague, vaporous, but commodious
concept dubbed “national interest” is being trotted out as alibi for
flouting the decisions of the Nigerian judiciary. President Buhari has
obviously given deep thought to his travails under a military
dictatorship, and concluded that his incarceration was also in the
“national interest”.
The timing is perfect, and we have cause to be thankful for the advance
warning, since not all rulers actually make a declaration of intent, but
simply proceed to degrade the authority of the law as part of the routine
business of governance. We have been there before. It should be of mere
interest, not despondency, that this latest proclamation of dictatorial
recidivism has also been made before an assembly of officers of the law,
the Nigerian Bar Association. We expect a robust response from the NBA as
part of its conclusions.
There is no short cut to democracy. The history of law, even where
uncodified, is as old as humanity. Numerous rulers have tried again and
again to annul that institution. Sometimes, they appear to succeed, but in
the end, they pay heavy forfeit. So does society. The Rule of Law however
outlasts all subverters, however seemingly powerful. If the consequences
for society in defence of the Rule of Law were not so costly, any new
attempt would be merely banal and boring, hardly deserving of attention.
We know, historically, where it will all end.