Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has backed his literary colleague, Prof. Chinua Achebe, in the raging controversy over the roles of some prominent Nigerians during the Nigerian civil war.

Soyinka, in an interview published in The Telegraph of London, but obtained by THISDAY yesterday, said the Igbo were victims of genocide during the three-year civil war, which was fought to break up Nigeria.

Achebe had stirred the hornet’s nest in his civil war memoir, “There Was A Country”, when among others, he accused wartime Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and the then Finance Minister, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, of carrying out a genocide against the Igbo.
The claim has generated considerable controversy, with many commentators accusing Achebe of re-writing history.

Soyinka, however, justified the secession bid and described Biafrans as “people who’d been abused, who’d undergone genocide, and who felt completely rejected by the rest of the community, and therefore decided to break away and form a nation of its own.”

He also condemned religious militancy, saying now is the time to tackle Boko Haram, the insurgent group that has visited terror on the North, killing over 1,500 since 2009.
According to him, what Boko Haram is doing is not religion, but criminality.

He said: “All religions accept that there is something called criminality. And criminality cannot be excused by religious fervour. Let me repeat something I first said at the meeting organised by UNESCO a few weeks ago, which was prompted by the recent film insulting the religion of Islam and depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a very crass way.
“The first thing to say is that we do not welcome any attempt to ravage religious sensibilities. That can be taken for granted. But you cannot hold the world to ransom simply because some idiots chose to insult a religion in some far-off place which most of the world has never even heard of. This for me is a kind of fundamentalist tyranny that should be totally unacceptable.

“So a group calls itself the Boko Haram, literally: ‘Book is taboo’, the book is anathema, the book is a product of Western civilisation, therefore it must be rejected.

“You go from the rejection of books to the rejection of institutions which utilise the book, and that means virtually all institutions. You attack universities, you kill professors, then you butcher students, you close down primary schools, you try and create a religious Maginot Line through which nothing should penetrate.

“That’s not religion; that’s lunacy. My Christian family lived just next door to Muslims. We celebrated Ramadan with Muslims; they celebrated Christmas with Christians. This is how I grew up.

“And now this virus is spreading all around the world, leading to the massacre of 50 students. This is not taking arms against the state, this is taking up arms against humanity.”
He said the unrest in Nigeria following the Boko Haram insurgency had attained a critical mass and criticized the way the Federal Government was handling the terror war.

“The president of Nigeria is making a mistake in not telling the nation that it should place itself on a war footing. There’s too much pussyfooting, there’s too much false intellectualism of what is going on, such as this is the result of corruption, this is the result of poverty, this is the result of marginalization.

“Yes, of course, all these negativity have to do with what is happening right now. But when the people themselves come out and say we will not even talk to the president unless he converts to Islam, they are already stating their terms of conflict,” he added.
Soyinka said if religion were to be taken away from the world, he would be one of the happiest people in the world.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/soyinka-backs-achebe-on-civil-war-memoir/127

No comments yet? . . . Strange

breaking new!!!!!!!!

Obasanjo will be visiting Nigeria next week.

Soyinka is one Man i respect. He's a man that will always speak the truth and damn the consequences.

afam4eva: Soyinka is one Man i respect. He's a man that will always speak the truth and damn the consequences.

What truth? That Awolowo killed them?

Please this should be taken to the front page. NL Mod, take note.

I was actually praying and wishing that people like this man(Soyinka) should come out and speak up.
I'm one of those that believe that using hunger as a strategy for winning wars is a crime against Humanity. No matter how much we argue this "Policy", the fact remains that Nigeria committed Genocide against the Biafrans (Igbos in particular).

I opened this thread thinking by now it would have made front page as the other topic made front page without delay (America blamed Gowon Ojukwu for hungry Biafrans) This Nairaland and moderators are danm bias and unfair to their self not to me.

they would rather make ''the picture of davido in london front page..
i no blame them sha.
i just come here when i have excess time.

9ja_I_hail: I opened this thread thinking by now it would have made front page as the other topic made front page without delay (America blamed Gowon Ojukwu for hungry Biafrans) This Nairaland and moderators are danm bias and unfair to their self not to me.

Evil can only triumph when good men fail τ̅o stop talkin & do sometin! i keep wonderin why dis soyinka man dnt want τ̅o contest τ̅o be president of Nigeria

9ja_I_hail: I opened this thread thinking by now it would have made front page as the other topic made front page without delay (America blamed Gowon Ojukwu for hungry Biafrans) This Nairaland and moderators are danm bias and unfair to their self not to me.

thank God it has finally made the front page!

why will they want to make it front page.I suggest u copy and paste it in response to every topic that makes it to front page for the next 1 week!!!

This redundant topic should have been deleted to start with...

ahmedwisdom: why will they want to make it front page.I suggest u copy and paste it in response to every topic that makes it to front page for the next 1 week!!!

GBAM!

Eko Ile: This redundant topic should have been deleted to start with...

I would not like to join issues with your type, i am sure you know your type and dictate them when u see one. Imbe_cile Garage monkey.

Jenams: i keep wonderin why dis soyinka man dnt want τ̅o contest τ̅o be president of Nigeria

Ha ha. Keep wondering. As if you would vote for him.

He said BEFORE the war, not DURING the war...

Everyone knows Wole Soyinka don't really like the Northerners(born to rule mentality) and their religion - and I see why he's biased against them..

9ja_I_hail: but obtained by THISDAY yesterday, said the Igbo were victims of genocide during the three-year civil war, which was fought to break up Nigeria.

Soyinka, however, justified the secession bid and described Biafrans as “people who’d been abused, who’d undergone genocide, and who felt completely rejected by the rest of the community, and therefore decided to break away and form a nation of its own.”

Can any discerning mind see the difference between the highlighted in red? Stup!id journalists at it again. Obviously the genocide Soyinka referred to (the section highlighted in red) was the killing of Igbos in the North BEFORE the Civil War began. That was then changed to "DURING" completely changing Soyinka's words.

Mind you, Soyinka's sentiment are not much different from the prevailing Yoruba sentiment BEFORE the ill-conceived march towards Lagos and attack on the Mid-West changed all that.

shymexx: He said BEFORE the war, not DURING the war...

Everyone knows Wole Soyinka don't really like the Northerners(born to rule mentality) and their religion - and I see why he's biased against them..

ok

The revelations is becoming clearer by the day, need i say it's interesting as well.

shymexx: He said BEFORE the war, not DURING the war...

Everyone knows Wole Soyinka don't really like the Northerners(born to rule mentality) and their religion - and I see why he's biased against them..

Either before, during or after the war, he has made his points

my bad wrong thread

He never back Achebe on Awolowo's involvement.

The jobless criers has come again with his silly post to heat up the house. Joblessness is a real bad thing and can make some a pure lunatic.

Seun or any moderator in the house kindly block this i d i o t who came here again today to raise this nonsense issue. Civil is dead and that is the end of the story whoever want to die because of civil 1966 can go and hug transformer. I'm so sick and angry waking up everyday to see a better thing to read and talk about on this site than a topic that will ends up as tribal jabs and stupidity.

'if religion
were to be taken away from
the world, he would be one
of the happiest people in
the world' ...seconded

Bluekite: It is official, the whole Nigeria people have gone mad, even auto-tune could not save the toto dick, just imagine if she did not use it

you well so?

Let's bury the hatchet. Learn from our past and plan for the future. Nigeria is blessed

logica:
Can any discerning mind see the difference between the highlighted in red? Stup!id journalists at it again. Obviously the genocide Soyinka referred to (the section highlighted in red) was the killing of Igbos in the North BEFORE the Civil War began. That was then changed to "DURING" completely changing Soyinka's words.

Mind you, Soyinka's sentiment were not much different from the prevailing Yoruba sentiment BEFORE the ill-conceived march towards Lagos and attack on the Mid-West changed all that.

Are you mad of something? Why do you quote me with the highlighted part? Am i soyinka or do i work with thisday newspaper, i even attached the link from where the statement was stated on this thread, How hard is it for you to click your mouse on the link and find out if it was stated on the news or not. If you quote me again for rubbish sake i maybe aggressive on my next respond to you.

Thanks.

Dayokanu and Co should find a real role model in Soyinka. Ever since, i read one of his internationally acclaimed "Wailing Wall" where he uses religion to symbolize politics. The Nigerian government is represented by a vulture, always hovering around the carcass that is Nigeria. He earned my admiration.

9ja_I_hail:

Are you mad of something? Why do you quote me with the highlighted part? Am i soyinka or do i work with thisday newspaper, i even attached the link from where the statement was stated on this thread, How hard is it for you to click your mouse on the link and find out if it was stated on the news or not. If you quote me again for rubbish sake i maybe aggressive on my next respond to you.

Thanks.

Your papa dey mad. You put up a post. If I quote your post, is it ThisDay that will show? You better go get help at ARO. Please respond very aggressively. E no go better for you if you don't.

Tribalism has been the enemy of nigeria. we always support our tribesmen on issues whether they are right or wrong. it's very hard to find nigerians who live their lives without prejudice and tribal sentiments. Soyinka is one of the rare nigerians who is not controlled by this. LONG LIVE TO YOU SOYINKA.