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Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir - Politics (3) - Nairaland

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Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 3:13pm On Oct 17, 2012
Best excerpts from the interview:

PG Your parents were Christians, Anglicans, I understand. How has your own religious belief evolved?

Wole Soyinka: I consider myself very fortunate. I was raised in a Christian environment in Abeokuta, but another side of me was very much enmeshed in African values. I gravitated towards what I saw was a cohesive system of a certain relationship of human beings to environment, a respect for humanity in general. I came through a traditional system, where children not only had rights, but had responsibility. In the European world today, especially in America, it seems to be forbidden for children to have responsibilities…

[b]I gravitated towards a deeper knowledge of the orisha, which represents the Yoruba pantheon, very similar in many ways to the Greek pantheon. You have reprobate deities, beneficent deities. I found that more honest than a kind of unicellular deity of either Christianity or Islam.[/b]I don’t know if you’ve been following the news, but just a few days ago some of these Islamic fundamentalists butchered close to 50 students of a technical college. I cannot imagine the religion I was brought up in having such complete contempt for human lives. And yet these are supposed to be the world religions. So that’s why I consider myself rather fortunate that I’ve been able to see what other religions had to offer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9600954/Wole-Soyinka-If-religion-was-taken-away-Id-be-happy.html

^^^^More Nigerians need to take a cue from Wole Soyinka and embrace the Orishas/Yoruba pantheon - that's the way forward, black people... cool
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Martini101(m): 3:18pm On Oct 17, 2012
This particular post is more than 4 on this site 2dy! Anyways. Our problem in this country is more of religious and ethnic chauvism. Biafrians have suffered irreparable loss like d noble laureate pointed out but now, that should be a national sacrifice.
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by EkoIle1: 3:20pm On Oct 17, 2012
9ja_I_hail:

@AFAM. Why are you brothering yourself giving more link to this brainless IKO MUGU. His conscience is too little to accept the truth rather he will resolve to kill the messenger instead dealing with the message itself.I can't stop singling out soyinka while describing south western Nigerians as cowards. In fact this people i am talking about is capable to win noble prize for cowardice.


You mad because I called you out with your bogus link...? That's the problem with you clowns, you think the rest of us are mumu. How incompetent can you be?

You are yet to even show us where Wole Soyinka said anything close to this topic..

This is your fake link, it doesn't work.

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

Content Not Found

Get a life and stop peddling 419 stories..
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by marveouz: 3:29pm On Oct 17, 2012
Geomac:

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

So in your Bias mind...Awolowo orchestrated the Genocide before the war.? Besides the link says content not found. LMAO!
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by hotwax: 3:30pm On Oct 17, 2012
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[b] using hunger as a strategy for winning wars is a crime against Humanity[/b]. No matter how much we argue this "Policy", the fact remains that Nigeria committed Genocide against the Biafrans (Igbos in particular)

Is'nt this a funny comment?

What about using bombs to win a war? What difference does it make? SMH
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by hardbody: 3:30pm On Oct 17, 2012
I dey fear to comment these days. Anything i say is used against me by the Mods. Even when i am just reading the posts, they ban me. But they cannot ban my hands and my eyes. Soyinka, You will live long ooo
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Oseniade(m): 3:32pm On Oct 17, 2012
eduson55: breaking new!!!!!!!!

Obasanjo will be visiting Nigeria next week.
Are you mentally ok?
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by gurujoe(m): 3:32pm On Oct 17, 2012
God bless Biafra
God bless Achebe
God bless Soyinka
God bless Ojukwu
God bless Fela
God bless Israel
God bless Usa
God bless al those countries dat supportd Biafra
if u nt here u ar on yr own (OYO)
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by logica(m): 3:32pm On Oct 17, 2012
It may just be time to put these jokers on permanent ignore as they obviously suffer from a bad spell of mental illness. They keep trying to use one form of untruth or the other to score points thinking that portrays intelligence only to get shown up for the dummies that they are.

@Eko Ile

I suspect that page was removed by either the journalist or the editor when they realized how stup!d the article would make their newspaper appear; as it obviously completely changed the words of Wole Soyinka (maybe in the hope that nobody would notice).
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Decryptor(m): 3:33pm On Oct 17, 2012
Eko Ile: This redundant topic should have been deleted to start with...
Tell me why it should be deleted? Do you even know what "Redundancy" means? SMH!
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by sleek29(m): 3:35pm On Oct 17, 2012
Ebube_Gid: 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.

I suppose you also accept that Ojukwu was wrong in starting a war he knew he couldn't win, that his ego clouded his sense of judgement and that Achebe is wrong to just base his accusations on stupid sentiments (afraid of Igbo domination). One, it was wrong for Kaduna Nzeogwu and co to kill Tafawa Balewa, Sardauna and Akintola, it was wrong for the hausas to retaliate by killing igbos in the north, it was also wrong for Ojukwu not to employ other means other than war to achieve freedom (Mandela destroyed apartheid peacefully) and then it was in humane for the Nigerian Government led my Yakubu Gowon to employ the tactics he used to win the war and it was also wrong for Achebe to insinuate that the buck stopped on Awolowo's table knowing fully well that the Nigerian Government was not headed by him
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 3:35pm On Oct 17, 2012
[size=16pt]Soyikan The GREAT.[/size]
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by EkoIle1: 3:40pm On Oct 17, 2012
Decryptor: Tell me why it should be deleted? Do you even know what "Redundancy" means? SMH!


Even you yourself sound redundant....
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Decryptor(m): 3:40pm On Oct 17, 2012
yeye4live: Was dier any tribe like igbo, just askin , taut it was only hausa , yoruba we ve in dis country
Now i know that there is power in names! Just look at your NL profile name...You are living it!!

2 Likes

Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 3:41pm On Oct 17, 2012
The whole Biafra issue should be revisited and key players should be held accountable including the Nigerian Government who should be made to compensate the victims and their families as appropriate. The Armenian genocide by the Ottoman empire that started from 1915 is still a hot issue today.

Many here remind us that our brothers from across the Niger have no regard for human life. grin Well if a people went through what we have seen in still images(war atrocities)then spilling blood for whatever reason may not be a big deal any more and it will pass from generation to generation. True accountability should prevail and the people involved compensated. A healing process is never too late.
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by logica(m): 3:41pm On Oct 17, 2012
sleek29:
and then it was in humane for the Nigerian Government led my Yakubu Gowon to employ the tactics he used to win the war
Guy forget that one. Are you aware Ojukwu was offered a means for food to be delivered but he turned it down claiming the food had been poisoned? Now tell me, which sensible soldier/tactician would think the Federal Government would poison food and send to Biafra knowing how much damage this will do to them in the international community? That would simply make the entire international body sympathetic towards Biafra. That's just by the way; there are means for determining whether or not food is poisoned - feeding animals with a bit of the food being the most basic. This is not rocket science is it? There was no tactic to starve Biafrans; rather Ojukwu starved them.

2 Likes

Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by logica(m): 3:43pm On Oct 17, 2012
1stCitizen: The whole Biafra issue should be revisited and key players should be held accountable including the Nigerian Government who should be made to compensate the victims and their families as appropriate. The Armenian genocide by the Ottoman empire that started from 1915 is still a hot issue today.

Many here remind us that our brothers from across the Niger have no regard for human life. grin Well if a people went through what we have seen in still images(war atrocities)then spilling blood for whatever reason may not be a big deal any more and it will pass from generation to generation. True accountability should prevail and the people involved compensated. A healing process is never too late.
Let the Biafrans start by compensating the people of the Mid-West whom they attacked and where several heinous crimes occurred. Back to the basics.
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by drnoel: 3:44pm On Oct 17, 2012
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.
its cos ur link cant be confirmed. get us comfirmable links please
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by oyebanji(m): 3:45pm On Oct 17, 2012
I think Prof's meant that the secession bid was justified. He did not comment on the manner the war was fought. I will advice that we understand any article clearly before reaching the wrong conclusions. See BM:

"Writing in certain environments carries with it an occupational risk. When I was imprisoned, without trial, it was as a result of a position I took as a citizen. Of course I used my weapon, which was writing, to express my disapproval of the [Biafran] civil war into which we were about to enter. These were 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. Unfortunately, the nature of my imprisonment meant that I couldn’t practise my trade because I was in solitary confinement for 22 months out of the 27, and I was deprived of writing material. So I had to somehow break through the barriers, smuggle in toilet paper, cigarette paper, scribble a few poems, pass messages outside. I was able to undertake exercises to make sure that I emerged from prison intact mentally" W.S. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9600954/Wole-Soyinka-If-religion-was-taken-away-Id-be-happy.html)
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by oyebanji(m): 3:47pm On Oct 17, 2012
I think Prof meant that the secession bid was justified. He did not comment on the manner the war was fought. I will advice that we understand any article clearly before reaching the wrong conclusions. See BM:

"Writing in certain environments carries with it an occupational risk. When I was imprisoned, without trial, it was as a result of a position I took as a citizen. Of course I used my weapon, which was writing, to express my disapproval of the [Biafran] civil war into which we were about to enter. These were 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. Unfortunately, the nature of my imprisonment meant that I couldn’t practise my trade because I was in solitary confinement for 22 months out of the 27, and I was deprived of writing material. So I had to somehow break through the barriers, smuggle in toilet paper, cigarette paper, scribble a few poems, pass messages outside. I was able to undertake exercises to make sure that I emerged from prison intact mentally" W.S. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9600954/Wole-Soyinka-If-religion-was-taken-away-Id-be-happy.html)
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by rallymento(m): 3:54pm On Oct 17, 2012
I saw it coming! Since prof. Wole Soyinka has supported his colleague, I think this is a good way to heal the wounds of the ibos. If God has not blessed the ibos' with good business sense, we would have been at the mercies of the other two major tribes in this country. I want peace, I want Nigeria, I want my efforts to be recognised, I want my opinions to be heard. Thanks
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by EzePromoe: 3:55pm On Oct 17, 2012
Soyinka is very different westerner i've found. At times i wonder if he's truly from there. Unlike many Yorubas, he isn't a tribalistic bigot.
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 3:56pm On Oct 17, 2012
Mad Cow: Soyinka is a Nobel Prize winning drug addict and Yoruba cultist...


YOU ARE REALLY A MAD COW. F.O.O.L
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by EkoIle1: 4:02pm On Oct 17, 2012
rallymento: I saw it coming! Since prof. Wole Soyinka has supported his colleague, I think this is a good way to heal the wounds of the ibos. If God has not blessed the ibos' with good business sense, we would have been at the mercies of the other two major tribes in this country. I want peace, I want Nigeria, I want my efforts to be recognised, I want my opinions to be heard. Thanks


He supported ashebe like how? By supporting achebe the failure's lies? Can you please show us how he did that? Delusional people.

And they are not colleagues, they are not mates. One is a Nobel winner and the other is a disgruntled and hate filled tribalistic bigot, a failure and zero nobel winner.

3 Likes

Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by EzePromoe: 4:06pm On Oct 17, 2012
Eko Ile:


You mad because I called you out with your bogus link...? That's the problem with you clowns, you think the rest of us are mumu. How incompetent can you be?

You are yet to even show us where Wole Soyinka said anything close to this topic..

This is your fake link, it doesn't work.


Get a life and stop peddling 419 stories..

He made a mistake doesn't mean the story does not exist. Here's the link: www.thisdaylive.com/articles/soyinka-backs-achebe-on-civil-war-memoir/127912/
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by EkoIle1: 4:08pm On Oct 17, 2012
Eze Promoe:
He made a mistake doesn't mean the story does not exist. Here's the link: www.thisdaylive.com/articles/soyinka-backs-achebe-on-civil-war-memoir/127912/


Was he too lazy and deceptive to admit that he made a mistake and furnish us the right link instead?
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 4:09pm On Oct 17, 2012
foyeks2001:

What truth? That Awolowo killed them?
cheesy...name them na... grin...fear no de catch ghost, why im come de waka for only night cheesy
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 4:10pm On Oct 17, 2012
I will be the happiest if religion disappears from human memory. The Igbo people have the right to leave Nigeria if they want to. No one should be forced to be where they don't want to be. I see no point forcing them to be Nigerians.
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Nobody: 4:14pm On Oct 17, 2012
gurujoe: God bless Biafra
God bless Achebe
God bless Soyinka
God bless Ojukwu
God bless Fela
God bless Israel
God bless Usa
God bless al those countries dat supportd Biafra
if u nt here u ar on yr own (OYO)

wink
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Duchman67: 4:18pm On Oct 17, 2012
.
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by Decryptor(m): 4:19pm On Oct 17, 2012
Eko Ile:


Was he too lazy and deceptive to admit that he made a mistake and furnish us the right link instead?
Now that you have seen the right link, go jump off the third mainland bridge
Re: Soyinka Backs Achebe On Civil War Memoir by MadCow1: 4:21pm On Oct 17, 2012
P.U.S.H:



YOU ARE REALLY A MAD COW. F.O.O.L


Who come be this blokus again na?!

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