[size=14pt]Nigeria heading for civil war – Soyinka[/size]
On January 10, 2012 · In News
6:32 pm

LONDON (AFP) -  Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka warned on Tuesday that his country was heading towards a civil war, blaming political leaders who spread religious intolerance.

Asked whether he agreed with President Goodluck Jonathan that the current unrest was worse than the 1960s civil war, he told the BBC World Service: “It’s not an unrealistic comparison — it’s certainly based on many similarities.


Prof Wole Soyinka

“We see the nation heading towards a civil war.”

Soyinka was also asked whether the unrest threatened the state of Nigeria itself, and replied: “It is going that way. We no longer can pretend it’s not.

“When you’ve got a situation where a bunch of people can go into a place of worship and open fire through the windows, you’ve reached a certain dismal watershed in the life of that nation.”

Soyinka said the issues raised by Islamist group Boko Haram, which was blamed for violence targeting Christians in the north of Nigeria and has sparked fears of a wider religious conflict, had been brewing for some time.

“There are people in power in certain parts of the country, leaders, who quite genuinely and authoritatively hate and cannot tolerate any religion outside their own,” he said.

“When you combine that with the ambitions of a number of people who believe they are divinely endowed to rule the country and who… believe that their religion is above whatever else binds the entire nation together, and somehow the power appears to slip from their hands, then they resort to the most extreme measures.

“Youths who have been indoctrinated right from infancy can be used, and who have been used, again and again to create mayhem in the country.”

He added: “Those who have created this faceless army have lost control.”

Soyinka, a dramatist and essayist, became Africa’s first Nobel laureate in literature when he won the prize in 1986.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/01/nigeria-heading-for-civil-war-soyinka/

Spot on

Let the world hear our story!

There is need to launch a petition at the United Nation.

This pretence of ONE NIGERIA must end. I don't want my kids to go through this.

Obviously!

Who fired the first shot? I hope the answer is obvious enough!

My pain remains how ready and well-armed are Nigbo in case the shooting war erupts? I have known for long time there is no iota of bases for unity in the cesspit called Nigeria.

Dede1:

My pain remains how ready and well-armed are Nigbo in case the shooting war erupts? I have known for long time there is no iota of bases for unity in the cesspit called Nigeria.

We will be alright, the campaign/protest just needs to begin right now at the UN headquaters in Switzerland.

Someone need to immediately collect the history of the hate crimes and present to the world. It is important to highlight the difference between the war between Biroms/Hausas in Jos and the unprovoked attacks on Igbos in the North!

When it comes to defending ourselves, we will. We done it before and we will do it again. What we failed at before was gaining the support of World Super Powers. We must not fail at that this time. We just need to start telling our story to the world early enough. The good news is that we live in the digital age. British Foreign policy and influence of BBC will not this time mis-interprete the true events going on in Nigeria!

That's all you guys want Civil war not peace !

I laugh in hot weep

Personally, I prefer to be out of Nigeria; a country set up to fail, and people too blind and concerned about their own pockets to see.

frosbel:

That's all you guys want Civil war not peace !

Well we have had pretence and pseudo peace for 40yrs of living together. Now that has failed. Only a fool keeps doing the same thing and expect a different result.

Happy new year my people, i think prof is right i saw it myself on Lagos Ibadan expressway yesterday.

1. We need to facilitate a U.N. Sponsored referendum in relation to separation.

2. The formation of the New Secular State must be established along with the implementation of checks and balances in the System to act against the concentration of Power, State corruption and to promote the enshrinement of Civil Liberties.

3. All Public officials, Members of the Judiciary, Armed Forces, Police, Customs etc, must be purged of corrupt practices and general corruption within the newly formed Secular State.

4. Bureaucratic sabotage, (Official Go Slow) must be eradicated within the newly formed Secular State.

5. There should be a notable economic shift within the newly formed Secular State, from distribution and consumption, to production.

6. Freedom of Information should be an entitlement and the Freedom of the Press (along with duties and obligations that accompany such Freedoms) should be enshrined.

7. The aim of the the newly formed Secular State is to revisit the pre-independence negotiations pertaining to the practice of Fedaralism by the different constituent groups that make up the Fedaration. They should be encouraged to develop their raw and natural resources and thus contribute a fair percentage of their profits to the Central Government. In other word, devolution will be the natural order of the State.

8. Last and not the least (this is personal), within the newly formed Secular State we should aim for a strong currency in order to eradicate poverty. A fair days work should result in a fair days pay. There is no justification for Africans having to work for Years in order to get the salary of what a Westerner gets in a week. This is economic slavery.


We as Africans should be able to create our own Utopia. We can achieve this. We can do miles better than the Status Quo.

Beaf

Tell your Oga to reverse fuel subsidy so that this people can come out of their shell and declare their true loyalty to Boko Haram.

Right now you have innocent naive people causing confusion alonside people who were looking for every opportunity to cause confusion anyway because the man from the wrong tribe is in power!

Reverse fuel subsidy removal, if the economy will crash so be it. Dont give them an opportunity to mask their anger on a legitimate cause.

To proof we have won the war, I need Beaf's Head.

For being amongst the hypocrites, sycophants, liars and greedy ba-st*ards that kept lying to GEJ everything was well in the country and that the people protesting on tv were mere rented hoodlums from his opposition party.

mikeansy:

Beaf

Tell your Oga to reverse fuel subsidy so that this people can come out of their shell and declare their true loyalty to Boko Haram.

Right now you have innocent naive people causing confusion alonside people who were looking for every opportunity to cause confusion anyway because the man from the wrong tribe is in power!

Reverse fuel subsidy removal, if the economy will crash so be it. Dont give them an opportunity to mask their anger on a legitimate cause.

Please no war. I rather live under corruption than war. You people don't know the magnitude of what you are all wishing.

Let the process for peaceful separation begin. We need to stop deceiving ourselves because 1 Nigeria is no longer possible. Let's prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Two or more happy nations are better than 1 big sad nation. Divided we stand, united we fall!

blacksta:


Please no war. I rather live under corruption than war. You people don't know the magnitude of what you are all wishing.

Nobody is wishing war upon you, countries do separate in peace. Nigeria is not working together.

Some are default target of hate crimes just because of their tribe. These group of people have a right to choose a different future.

However if in our quest to choose a different future war is declared against us, then we should defend ourselves.!

I heard the interview myself on BBC network Africa this morning. His analysis on the BH crisis was quite revealing.

Its noteworthy that the playwright said he still believes in the ''Nigerian project''--as he calls it.

It is always a privilege to listen to great and elderly minds when they articulate a given situation in the best of brief summaries.

His words make my own thoughts more sacrosanct but not at the expense of the individual independence of minds.

Cut off the head of the snake and let my people go!

muyoto:

I heard the interview myself on BBC network Africa this morning. His analysis on the BH crisis was quite revealing.

Its noteworthy that the playwright said he still believes in the ''Nigerian project''--as he calls it.

He simply said in public what all have been saying in private

who does not know that Almajiri system in the North means that there is an endless wanna be terrorist waiting for the next mayhem? who does not know that Northerners think they have a devine right to rule? we all knew these facts and pretend they dont exist!

This trash is fit for garbage

Good, The North, MB, Oodua, and the rest of the South. Nice . . .

United we have been falling but divided we may stand.

It is up to us to either do this the easy way or the hard way

1. Total disintegration or 2. Confedration with true fedralism/devolution of power
are the options available to us.

We can either do this or continue sleeping until war befalls us. And guess what, just one person may just have the capacity to end the country itself if war were to break out. All it will require is a loose canon with a nuclear bomb and it will be over on both sides of the divide.

lai lai, Nigeria will never be divided into 2. Who wan die of hunger? Soon people will start laughing at us riding donkeys all in the name of Southern Nigeria. Abegi.

It's becoming normal stuff here to read those  who have no semblance of cohesive political or cultural society chatting about slicing and dicing Nigeria.
You are likely to end up being the hardest hit regardless of all your internet chest beating,the ominous signs are there for all with common sense to see.

2mch:

lai lai, Nigeria will never be divided into 2. Who wan die of hunger? Soon people will start laughing at us riding donkeys all in the name of Southern Nigeria. Abegi.

That's why we must let the people decide!

The issue is not about war but who and who are fighting? Is it Kanuri vs Nigeria, Christian vs Muslim, Hausa/Fulani vs Nigeria, Musiwa vs beaf?

This war will be the worst in human history as it has no definition. The Igbos were made the scape goat of Biafra, who would be made the scape goat of Boko Haram?

The Yorubas have more Muslims than Christians or might be 50-50 and this means Lagos which is mostly Muslim has to join the Rebels if it is on grounds of Religion. Let us tell ourselves the truth that it is poverty that is worrying us not Religion or ethnicity. If Government addresses poverty, then there will be less almajiris, MEND, OPC and MASSOB.

The President was right in his remarks regarding the bombings.The easy solution is to divide the peaceful SE/SW/SS as one country while the volatile NE/NW/NC are left to fight their undefined war alone.

^
The choice the Niger Delta and SE are making is pretty clear even to the blind. Keep fooling yourself with silly posts like the above.

talknafree:

To proof we have won the war, I need Beaf's Head.

For being amongst the hypocrites, sycophants, liars and greedy ba-st*ards that kept lying to GEJ everything was well in the country and that the people protesting on tv were mere rented hoodlums from his opposition party.

Fools like you always continue to be fools. One thing I am certain about if a war pans out is; you will not be a citizen in my country, you will have your own where fools reign supreme and dunces are kings.

ShangoThor:

That's why we must let the people decide!

Nairaland has made a lot of people wiser on how certain people in so called "Southern" Nigeria reason. It will be the same situation we find ourselves in. Afterall the people trying to regress Nigeria back a 100 years are not of northern origin. These same people are in support of this catastrophe because of tribal sentiments, while they collectively insult Yoruba's. For peace to reign and for progress, Yoruba's will certainly go their own way. Afterall Part of SS and SE are brothers, while the SW are parasites. So dont call Yoruba's into your Southern Nigeria. You people will be happy together in one country. Yoruba's can take care of themselves. Dont worry about any mumu southern Nigeria. That is a facade

Abagworo:

The issue is not about war but who and who are fighting? Is it Kanuri vs Nigeria, Christian vs Muslim, Hausa/Fulani vs Nigeria, Musiwa vs beaf?

This war will be the worst in human history as it has no definition. The Igbos were made the scape goat of Biafra, who would be made the scape goat of Boko Haram?

[b]The Yorubas have more Muslims than Christians [/b]or might be 50-50 and this means Lagos which is mostly Muslim has to join the Rebels if it is on grounds of Religion. Let us tell ourselves the truth that it is poverty that is worrying us not Religion or ethnicity. If Government addresses poverty, then there will be less almajiris, MEND, OPC and MASSOB.

The President was right in his remarks regarding the bombings.The easy solution is to divide the peaceful SE/SW/SS as one country while the volatile NE/NW/NC are left to fight their undefined war alone.

Do you have statistics to support that?

“Youths who have been indoctrinated right from infancy can be used, and who have been used, again and again to create mayhem in the country.”

He added: “Those who have created this faceless army have lost control.”

Yep. Lost control, and have had their tool taken over by foreign elements.

Anyway, time to split up the country.