Jonathan is suffering from a bad conscience – Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said President Goodluck Jonathan is suffering from a bad conscience.
Soyinka was reacting to the President's comment in Lagos on Wednesday that the Jan. 2012 fuelsubsidy removal protests were sponsored.
He said, "The most generous response that can be given to President Jonathan's recent statement on the people's fuel subsidy protest is that he is suffering from a bad conscience.
"The worst – which I fear is closerto the truth – is that he is lamentably alienated from the true pulse of the nation, thanks perhaps to the poor, eager-to-please quality of his analysts.
"Since I have had the opportunityto contest this perception of the protest with him directly, it is clear what kind of interpretative diet he prefers. The nation needs all the luck it can get."Condemningthe President's use of force to quell the protests, Soyinka described the action as a violationof the people's constitutional rights and dismissed Jonathan's allegation that the protests were sponsored.
He said, "This should be seen as a grave danger to democracy, and awarning. Both the participants and those who, like myself, were unavoidably absent, that lent bothvocal and moral support to the demonstration, have been maligned and insulted by such reductionist reasoning.
"The culture of public protest appears to be an alien territory to Jonathan, which is somewhat surprising, considering the fact that he has not only lived in this nation as a citizen, but served in various political offices.
"He has lived through the terror reign of the late Gen. Sani Abacha,whose ruthless misuse of the military and the secret service did not prevent demonstrations against perceived injustice and truncation of people's rights.
"Jonathan's pronouncements truly boggle the mind. What is thisobsession with bottled water, comedians and musical artists? Must demonstrators drink water from the gutter? Is protest no longer viable when sympathisers cater to their needs, supply decent water and food rations?
"And since when have entertainers been deemed a sign of unseriousness in a protest rally? Static or moving, demonstrators boost their moralein any way they can, including dancing and even mini-carnivals." he said.

That's no news, everybody knows!

baslone: That's no news, everybody knows!

Someone did recognize it on another thread -

ochukoccna: Just how silly can our president get?
If 'ordinary' people i.e. masses were not involved,is it savvy people who flooded Ojota for food&a musical concert?
All the 'sponsors' did was harvest public anger&redirect @ Aso rock
Were SW protesters 'sponsored' to attack SW senators in Ibadan?
Was the protest 'sponsored' in 4 geo-political zones?
Were SS&SE not 'sponsored' to sit @ home? For him to speak 8/9 months after indicates he's still bleeding from it
Let him beware cos blood draws in sharks

The protest that lead to doctrine of necessity was also stage managed by the benefactor.

baslone: That's no news, everybody knows!

But not everybody have the brave heart to speak out.

Have you ever spoken against injustice in your domain before?

I just wonder who writes the guy's speeches. He ought to have been sacked long ago.