Nobel Laurette, Professor Wole Soyinka took his jibe against President<\/p>\n
Goodluck Jonathan to an all time low, likening him to the biblical
\nNebuchadnezzar.<\/p>\n
Soyinka also lambasted the Inspector General of Police, Sulaiman Abba,
\ndescribing his action against members of the House of Representatives as a
\ndeclaration of war against the Nigerian people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shall not insist that the biblical figure of Nebuchadnezzar is uniquely
\napt for the pivotal figure of the \u2018democratic\u2019 history in the making at
\nthis moment,\u201d Soyinka said at a Press conference in Lagos he titled: The
\nNebuchadnezzar.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor one thing, Nebu was a nation builder and a warrior. One could argue
\neven more convincingly for the figure of Balthazar, his successor, or
\nindeed Emperor Nero as reference point \u2013 you all remember him \u2013 the
\nemperor who took to fiddling while Rome was burning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever you should easily recall why I opted for King Nebu \u2013 the figure
\nthat currently sits on the top of our political pile himself evoked it,
\nalbeit in a context that virtuously disclaimed any similarities, even
\ntendencies. Perhaps he meant it at the time when he claimed: \u2018I am no
\nNebuchadnezzar.\u2019 Perhaps not. One judges leaders on acts however, not
\npronouncements, which are often as reliable as electoral promises.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe praetorian guards have been let loose \u2013 to teach the rabble their
\nplace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recent choice of a new leader for the guard was clearly no accident,
\nand this hitherto unknown enforcer, one Suleiman Abba, has wasted no time
\nin inaugurating a season of brutish power. When a people\u2019s elected
\nemissaries are disenfranchised, cast out like vagrants and resort to
\nscaling fences to engage in their designated functions, the people get the
\nmessage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the choice is always there, and each choice comes at a cost. It
\nis either we pay now, or pay later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeaking at his own personalised example where he set the law of
\narithmetic on its head \u2013 I refer to the split in the Governors\u2019 Forum, and
\nhis \u2018formal\u2019 recognition of the minority will in a straightforward, peer
\nelection \u2013 democracy has been rendered meaningless where it should be most
\nfervently exemplified.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is more unworthy of leadership than to degrade a system by which
\none attains fulfillment, and this is what the nation has witnessed time
\nand time again in various parts of the nation, the recent affront against
\nthe legislative chamber being only the most blatant and unconscionable\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a warning. His choices for the occupancy of crucial public
\npositions \u2013 such as the protective arm of the nation \u2013 constitutes an even
\nmore immediate and constant public alert. The signals are ominous \u2013 for
\nand beyond 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nobel Laurette, Professor Wole Soyinka took his jibe against President Goodluck Jonathan to an all time low, likening him to the biblical Nebuchadnezzar. Soyinka also lambasted the Inspector General of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n