As President Umaru Yar’Ardua’s prolonged absence from the country for health reasons stretches into a second month, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday in Lagos urged Nigerians to prepare for a campaign of civil disobedience in order to force government officials and politicians in positions of authority to do the right thing.


Soyinka, in a chat with journalists in Lagos which focused on the leadership vacuum and uncertainty brought on by the president’s absence from the country, said with civil disobedience, “those in government would learn to respond to the yearnings of Nigerians.”


The laureate, who on Tuesday joined civil society groups to protest the refusal by Yar’Adua to transfer presidential powers to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, said the development had pushed Nigerians close to “explosive point.”
He therefore called for sustained mass rallies and civil disobedience by Nige-rians in order to force “Yar’Adua and the cabal ruling the country to do the right thing.”


Soyinka said: “Nigerians are close to explosive point because of the refusal by those in power to do the right thing. The situation has been worsened by the comatose state of the nation.


“Mass rallies and a campaign of civil disobedience should be sustained in order to bring the country’s leadership to its knees.
“The critical mass has been reached. Cracks will begin here and there and people will be constrained to push.
“We will see the manifestations in the actions of the citizens within and outside the country.”
He said politicians should be warned against saying that people who are clamouring for the transfer of power do not wish the president well.


“These politicians should be asked which Nigerian they have met that has prayed against the president’s recovery.
“They are only trying to distort the issue. It is sanctimonious, a cynical appr-oach. It is blasphemy; they are putting others in a false situation.


“The nation and the president are sick, both need to be healed, but at least the president is receiving treatment,” Soyinka stated.
He said those who do not want the president to recover are “members of the cabal that was secretly controlling affairs.
“They are all corrupt. Some of them elected and some of them unelected.

They want uncertainty to continue for as long as possible so as to be reinvented for the 2011 election. They are the ones who wish the president would never return.”
He said Yar’Adua’s absence had put governance on hold while nobody was saying anything about the Niger-Delta problem.
“The issue of the Niger-Delta has been placed on hold. Those brought out of the creeks on the basis of a process of rehabilitation are not being told anything.


“The president had set in motion a certain process to begin immediately after Ramadan. What happened to that process?”
The Nobel Laureate also queried the signed 2009 Supplementary Budget: “Lies are being exposed including forgery; did the president truly sign the 2009 Supplementary Budget?
“I think a commission should be established to find out if he actually signed. All these issues, all those lies we are being told amount to treasonable action.


“It is up to the people to get up and claim their sovereignty. Have we reached the zenith and we are now declining or dead so the world can come and conduct a post mortem?” he asked rherorically. 
Yar‘Adua left Nigeria last November after being diagnosed with acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining covering the heart.
He was flown abroad and has been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ever since.


On electoral reform, Soyinka said Nigerians are anxious to know what has happened to the electoral reform proposal.
He queried: “Who is acting on it? Who is working on the reform? Who is tinkering with it? Why are we in the doldrums? Is it that events will overtake electoral reforms? Will Nigerians forget about the reform and go into the 2011 elections like sheep?”
“We do not have a constitution, we only have a document pretending to be a constitution, it is a military centralist document which ensures re-enslavement.


On the Haiti earthquake, Soyinka said the absence of Yar’Adua had contributed to the lack of action from Nigeria: “Up till Thursday, we were yet to send our condolences to our sister nation. We pride ourselves as the giant of Africa.
“Is this not the moment when the giant of Africa should rise and send one plane load of relief materials?   


“Where is the government that should speak on behalf of all of us?   All we hear is pray, pray, pray. Pray for this, pray for that.”
The Nobel Laureate also reiterated that the United States overreacted by listing Nigeria’s as one of the 10 security risk countries, following the failed attempt by a Nigerian, Umar Abdulmutalab to bomb an American airliner on Christmas Day.
He said: “It is totally unjustifiable. The boy who attempted to bomb the plane was bred and psycho-mentally brainwashed in Great Britain and not in Nigeria. The US has to review its decision.


If we had a government, we would never have been placed on that list. The heads of state would have spoken to each other. There is no one to speak to and we are seen as a potential threat to international security.”
Soyinka also expressed worry about the return of “torturous” police officer, Zakari Biu to the Nigerian Police. The police authorities recently reinstated Biu.


“It is meant to be a peace keeping agency. Biu’s return could be likened to returning to the monstrous days of Abacha. We know the number of people Biu tortured. The crimes against humanity which he committed should warrant instituting a case against him in the International Criminal Court.”



http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=164307

After calling for[i] Save Nigeria Rally[/i], here comes Save Nigeria Civil Disobedience, next might be[i] Save Nigeria Protest [/i] and the final might be Save Nigeria War . . . . ROTFLMAO . . . . Yoruba people are just full of drama.

Anyway, good morning to you all.

It's good to know that Soyinka doesn't want the protests and rallies to die down. Now we are moving from peaceful protest to civil disobedience. Could violence be next? I think the longer the cabals delay and frustrate efforts, people may begin to feel that violence will be the only way to get things done since trying to force the thieves in Abuja to go by the constitution isn't accomplishing anything.

Who knows, maybe some group is already secretely planning a violent take over.

metal-gong:

After calling for[i] Save Nigeria Rally[/i], here comes Save Nigeria Civil Disobedience, next might be[i] Save Nigeria Protest [/i] and the final might be Save Nigeria War . . . . ROTFLMAO . . . . Yoruba people are just full of drama.

Anyway, good morning to you all.

You continue to display your mental incapacity on these forums. Someone is doing something positive with his time and you come here to insult him because he is Yoruba. Soyinka is a great man, has always been and always be. Soyinka has done more for Nigeria than anyone in your family will ever do. Who are you? What have you achieved? Did no one tell you that Soyinka spent 26 months in prison for the Biafran cause?

Someone of you are so blinded by tribalism and hate for other tribes that blood refuses to flow to your brains. I don't expect you to reply with anything sensible or articulate because you are obviously disadvantaged. I expect you will reply with your usual tribalistic vitriol. Ode jati jati

^^^^ Please stop wasting your time on charlatans like metal-gong(aka mekuslogan,mukesxx etx). . .The level of discourse is way beyond his level.

illusion2:

^^^^ Please stop wasting your time on charlatans like metal-gong(aka mekuslogan,mukesxx etx). . .The level of discourse is way beyond his level.

If we keep quiet, then we allow them to keep perpetuating their vitriol. The more intelligent people object to this perverse behaviour, the better the quality of discourse on these forums will be. Gradually, they will feel more isolated and reduce the amount of trash that they post. Before they post, they will quietly question the futility of each trash they post.

'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' - Edmund Burke

The dream must not die. The protests must continue until change comes to be. But will apathy overcome when the journey becomes long and arduous?

metal-gong:

After calling for[i] Save Nigeria Rally[/i], here comes Save Nigeria Civil Disobedience, next might be[i] Save Nigeria Protest [/i] and the final might be Save Nigeria War . . . . ROTFLMAO . . . . Yoruba people are just full of drama.

Anyway, good morning to you all.

Grow a flipping brain cell and stop painting everywhere with your idiocy

violent:

Grow a flipping brain cell and stop painting everywhere with your idiocy

My Jeeezzz!!!! OMG!!!! LMAO

metal-gong:

After calling for[i] Save Nigeria Rally[/i], here comes Save Nigeria Civil Disobedience, next might be[i] Save Nigeria Protest [/i] and the final might be Save Nigeria War . . . . ROTFLMAO . . . . Yoruba people are just full of drama.

Anyway, good morning to you all.

and as 4 u ,metal-gong or wats ur name? u r so stupid dat i hv nvr seen

Some things if not most are easier said than done.

Katsumoto:

You continue to display your mental incapacity on these forums. Someone is doing something positive with his time and you come here to insult him because he is Yoruba. Soyinka is a great man, has always been and always be. Soyinka has done more for Nigeria than anyone in your family will ever do. Who are you? What have you achieved? Did no one tell you that Soyinka spent 26 months in prison for the Biafran cause?

Someone of you are so blinded by tribalism and hate for other tribes that blood refuses to flow to your brains. I don't expect you to reply with anything sensible or articulate because you are obviously disadvantaged. I expect you will reply with your usual tribalistic vitriol. Ode jati jati

I trust you. Your imbecillic replies never go beyond the ordinary, always appear as obtuse as ever . . . .
I dont know how old you are, but it is obvious from your previous posts that you are a bigoted dunce. Where and how did I insult Soyinka? I just stated the facts which your retarded brain can never be able to process. Even if Soyinka spent 23 months in jail, does that change the fact that 90% of his tribesmen, including their leader participated and abated the GENOCIDAL acts on Ndigbo all for the sake of one nigeria. Then why should you Yoruba poeple turn around to be over heating the polity of the same Nigeria you guys supported. Yesterday was Save Nigeria protest, today will be civil disobedience, tommorrow might now be Yoruba war. Bloody cowards.

Your are such a shameless animal. Imagine, you even have the temerity to ask me what I have done for Nigeria, a group of animals that massacred Ndigbo, a cesspit made up of hausa and Yoruba terrorists . . . .  .Otoro gbagbukwe gi ebe ahu!! Anu ofia.
May be, you can also ask the Jews what they have done for the masterminds of the holocaust.

metal-gong:

I trust you. Your imbecillic replies never go beyond the ordinary, always appear as obtuse as ever . . . .
I dont know how old you are, but it is obvious from your previous posts that you are a bigoted dunce. Where and how did I insult Soyinka? I just stated the facts which your retarded brain can never be able to process. Even if Soyinka spent 23 months in jail, does that change the fact that 90% of his tribesmen, including their leader participated and abated the GENOCIDAL acts on Ndigbo all for the sake of one nigeria. Then why should you Yoruba poeple turn around to be over heating the polity of the same Nigeria you guys supported. Yesterday was Save Nigeria protest, today will be civil disobedience, tommorrow might now be Yoruba war. Bloody cowards.

Your are such a shameless animal. Imagine, you even have the temerity to ask me what I have done for Nigeria, a group of animals that massacred Ndigbo, a cesspit made up of hausa and Yoruba terrorists . . . .  .Otoro gbagbukwe gi ebe ahu!! Anu ofia.
May be, you can also ask the Jews what they have done for the masterminds of the holocaust.

The only thing you have going for you in your life is being a victim from the civil war that ended 40 years ago. Otherwise you would not bring civil war into every thread. You started this thread about Soyinka, a great man, and yet you still introduce the Civil war into it. Grow up and stop bitching; are you a woman? Are you not a man?

Only losers talk about being victims all the time; it is pathetic.

Katsumoto:

The only thing you have going for you in your life is being a victim from the civil war that ended 40 years ago. Otherwise you would not bring civil war into every thread. You started this thread about Soyinka, a great man, and yet you still introduce the Civil war into it. Grow up and stop bitching; are you a woman? Are you not a man?

Only losers talk about being victims all the time; it is pathetic.

Katsumoto, you are the quitessential yoruba bigoted slowpoke. I will keep on hammering this into your thick skull. . . . .
All you were able to mutter was that the genocide ended 40 yrs ago, that talking about it makes me a loser. What a shameless and brainless animal!! Even Soyinka must be ashamed that he came from a stock of murderers like you katsumoto. At this time when other civilized world are reviewing genocidal events of the past and prosecuting those behind it, you slowpoke is on the net calling the massacre of the Ndigbo a mere past event. You might also call Isrealites losers for moulding most of their policies based on the holocaust and also advocating for the prosecution of the masterminds.
However, who are actually the real losers? Are they not the pathetic people that abated the war and are now championing the protests against their brothers in crime. You cowards should suck it up and stop disturbing the peace of other Nigerians.

we can still protest without unrest.

Na wao!