NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has likened Nigerian soldiers to the dreaded Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
The
literary icon, speaking on Saturday night at the grand finale of Wole
Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, described as shocking, the
alleged burning on Friday last week of some BRT buses on Ikorodu road,
Lagos, by protesting soldiers.
Soyinka called on President Goodluck Jonathan to take up the matter.
“I
demand the Commander-in-Chief to do something about it; example must be
set. This is not the first time. We have had enough,” he said.
He
further wondered why those soldiers considered their lives more special
than those of the citizens, particularly in a country where people have
continued to die through senseless acts of terror.
Describing
the soldiers’ attack on innocent people as madness, Soyinka added that
“Ola Rotimi wrote a play and called it ‘Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again.’
In this case, I will say our soldiers have gone mad again.”
SIXTY-FIVE-year-old Akin Bello, on Saturday, won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
The
playwright, who won with his play, ‘Egbon of Lagos,’ defeated two other
shortlisted playwrights Toyin Abiodun and Othuke Ominiabohs.
The
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, who handed out the grand prize of $20,000
to the winner, commended the organisers, Lumina Foundation and many
supporters of the project, particularly Globacom, this year’s major
sponsor.
The occasion was a gathering of writers, politicians, academics, artistes, students and captains of industry.
Bello
was educated at Oyo, Ghana and the University of Ife. A holder of BSc
in Political Science, he lives in Ibadan, where he runs a non-government
organisation. He was chairman of Oyo State chapter of the Association
of Nigerian Authors (ANA), from 2008 to 2012. He has published three
novels and a poetry collection. Egbon of Lagos is his first play.
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