₦airaland Forum

So, the jury is finally out on members of GEJ's cabinet. ThisDay has taken time to do an assessment of all cabinet ministers based on performance and impact. Some performed poorly like the education ministers-( Ruquayat, Wike), Interior(abba Morro), Police (olubolade) etc, while some did well- above average like the trade ministers( Aganga and Ortom) Agric(Adesina), Finance(NOI), Petroleum- u won't believe it( Diezini), Works(Onolememen), etc.

Here is the full assessment:

PROLOGUE
As Hope Flickers in the Distance...

By Okechukwu Uwaezuoke

There would always be cynics on the standby to scoff. Whatever the government flaunts as its achievements, it would never so easily notch a high approval rating. The spotlight, meanwhile, gropes frantically for good governance. And good governance implies – or must transmute to – a better life for the people.  For of what use is the announcement of an increased budgetary allocation to the education sector – to the tune of N426.53 billion, going by the latest official figures – when the rot in the sector remains glaring? Most road users still groan about the deplorable conditions of the federal highways.
The spectre of insecurity haunts and taunts the distraught populace. Healthcare has continued to fall short of the people’s expectations. Then, the power sector is still far from being what it should be.  Yet... even as the masses groan under the scourge of mistrust – the mistrust of the government – hope flickers in the distance, somewhere at the end of the dark tunnels of their minds... True: the value system has turned belly up and brazen corruption remains a hydra-headed monster, which stalks the system. But the presence of technocrats in the President Goodluck Jonathan cabinet sometimes shifts the focus away from the bleak prospects. Beneath the veil of the official Transformation Agenda sloganeering, there are indeed moments of reprieve in this administration’s apparent incoherence. Among these moments are the aviation sector’s laudable projects, which include the remodelling of the nation’s airports and the total radar coverage of the nation’s airspace. Rail transportation is being gradually revived from its decades-long coma. The talk of less dependence on crude oil-based exports is beginning to look achievable. The agricultural sector might achieve more than sufficiency in food supply and buoy the nation’s hopes of promoting non-oil exports. Indeed, despite the cant and rant of the opposition parties – and perhaps the occasional shaking of the head at the depravity of the system by some informed few – nothing suggests that Nigerians have given up hope on a better future for their country. Formal and informal business activities are still showing signs of life. These pheromone-driven activities have kept the mills of the economy turning. Bull runs seem to have returned to the stock market... These fairytale-like feats also affirm the resilience of the average Nigerian even under the most inhospitable conditions. Of particular interest in this regard is the culture sector, which ironically is ensconced among the least-favoured federal ministries. Besides the legendary success of the local home-video industry, spectacular achievements have been recorded by visual artists, writers and musicians. Hats off, therefore, to the creative industry that President Jonathan has deemed it worthy of grants worth billions of naira! Even with low budget, the culture ministry and its parastatals have admirably managed to plod on. On the festering problem of insecurity, many Nigerians would readily accuse the current administration of ineptitude. Could President Jonathan have underestimated how much things have degenerated when he took the oath two years ago to serve the nation? Apparently, it might take a while for Nigeria to be released from the vice-like grip of this monster. Nevertheless, even with some obvious gaffes the current administration deserves the thumbs up for some of its achievements. Perhaps, were it not for the grievous sins of the past, its efforts would have impacted more on the lives of the citizenry.
As the countdown to May 29 second anniversary of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration continues, our Correspondents covering the various ministries went round assessing the projects executed by and the programmes/policies being pursued by the various ministries in the last one year against the backdrop of the promises/pledges made by the various ministers. Below is the scorecard of the ministers…

  Minister of Aviation
From Airport Remodelling, Oduah Targets the
Aerotropolis

For almost 30 years, virtually all the nation’s airports had been stagnant without any major uplift until Ms. Stella Oduah emerged Aviation Minister in 2011. And less than one year after, she started and completed the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos from the rubbles of the obsolete structure that had existed there for years. Since then five remodelled terminals have been unveiled in Lagos, Abuja, Benin, Enugu and Kano. Transformation work is also going on at the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and other airports in the country.
Beyond airport remodelling, the minister has encouraged the growth of domestic airlines by removing import duties on aircraft importation and spares for scheduled operators. The airlines would also be assisted by the planned intervention fund, which will enable them to acquire new aircraft and boost their operation. The minister is also developing cargo terminals at the strategic agriculture potential states for the exportation of perishable and non-perishable cargo. But her larger vision remains the Aerotropolis, through which she intends to develop a commercial hub modelled around the nation’s major international airport.
Minister Oduah is known to be energetic and carries on with unprecedented zeal in the sector. But issues are being raised about the funding of the airport remodelling, many of which are of dubious quality. The minister is also accused of infiltrating the aviation agencies with non-professionals and sitting on the promotion of medium and high level officers who have spent many years in these agencies. Also, aviation analysts are watching the handling of the altercation between the Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and some of the aviation agencies over the state government’s aircraft to see if its aviation rules that is guiding the agencies’ action and not 2015 politics.
THISDAY Assessment – Good performance

  Minister of Defence (de facto Minister of Defence)
Obada: Performing
Creditably in a Job for Men
Mrs. Olusola Obada has been a stabilising force since assuming office as Minister of State for Defence. Obada performed her role in that capacity creditably well as the supervisory minister of Navy overseeing the arrival of NNS THUNDER as well supporting the then Minister of Defence, Dr. Mohammed Haliru Bello, before he was sacked last year. Bello’s sack has been like a blessing in disguise for Obada who has been able to bring her experience as former deputy governor in Osun State to bear on her expanded responsibility as both the acting Minister of Defence and Minister of State for Defence for almost a year now. Her leadership has witnessed a rapid re-organisation and modernisation of the Nigerian Armed Forces to meet the contemporary challenges like terrorism, insurgency, piracy and oil bunkering. Under Obada, the military has seen the development of a harmonised Defence Policy in line with the current realities, and the admission of female cadets into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) for combat training. Also, the military has witnessed the promotion of first female general in the person of Rear Admiral Itunu Honotu and first female military pilot Flying Officer Blessing Liman.
But the ongoing fight against insurgency is far from being won and this remains a challenge for the military. There have also been serious challenges including limited financial resources for purchase of military equipment and overstretching of the military, as troops are now engaged in both internal and external security operations. Another serious challenge is the rise in crude oil theft, pipeline vandalisation and other criminal activities in the Niger-Delta. One of Obada’s seeming weaknesses is the inability to speak authoritatively and take charge as a substantive Minister of State in matters of National Security. She is said to be more involved in ceremonial duties than actual policy formulation and decision-making.
THISDAY Assessment – Above Average

  Minister of Interior
Moro’s Stewardship
Enmeshed in Controversy
Comrade Abba Moro’s tenure in office has been characterised by controversies, prominent among them being series of allegations of recruitment scam in most of the agencies under his ministry.  However, Moro has also recorded some successes within the period under review including the establishment of the National Fire Academy, which has trained close to 300, and the creation of the National Fire Safety Code. Some senior officers were sent on overseas courses and local training courses. Also, most of the paramilitary agencies including the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) have been modernized and with well trained counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency arms. Accordingly, the reforms at NIS has brought immense results with speedy processing of international passports, better secured borders.
The minister has also been a strong advocate of Prison decongestion, amendment of the obsolete Prison Act, secured borders and favourable expatriate quota regime. The minister has raised alarm over the need to decongest the prisons, reform the laws, expedite trials and build world class prisons, at least one in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.
Nevertheless, like stated earlier the minister has been enmeshed in a lot of controversies with various allegation of nepotism, high-handedness and overbearing interference in the administrative mechanism of various parastatals under the ministry. The most prominent of these are the widely publicized power tussle with the immediate past Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mrs. Rose Chinyere Uzoma, over the control of NIS, which led to her sack, and as well the ongoing bickering over who succeeds her. There is current stalemate in the appointment of a substantive, and some of the senior officers of Immigration Service have accused the minister of having serious interest on who becomes the new CGI as he is purported to be opposed to the confirmation of the acting CGI, Rilwanu Musa.
THISDAY Assessment – Poor Performance

  Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance
Strong on Fiscal Discipline But Unemployment, Income Inequalities Persist
The former World Bank Managing Director has provided the compass with which the nation has navigated financial matters. She has been the arrow head of the government’s economic management mechanism since August 2011.
Following a grinding nationwide protest that followed the removal of fuel subsidy in January 2012, the minister set up a probe committee headed by the Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, to check the festering corrupt practices that led to unprecedented subsidy pay-outs between 2011 and 2012. Major fallouts of the committee’s work included the indictment of 25 firms for various infractions of the subsidy regime. This culminated in the prosecution of various indicted firms and individuals. Flowing from this, the minister has been able to firm up procedures to curb the excesses that led to the breaches.
The Nigerian economy has been adjudged strong by global rating agencies, though unemployment rate is high just as some other economic indices are not flattering. With inflation now down, exchange rate relatively stable, and fiscal deficit at just a little below 2 per cent of GDP –which is below the national threshold of 3 per cent, international rating agencies such as Fitch, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have given the country a positive economic outlook. Nigeria’s bonds were also recently included in the Barclays and JP Morgan Emerging Market indices.  The government has also evolved innovative domestic debt management strategy to enables it tackle the huge domestic debt. A Sinking Fund has already retired N75 billion of matured bonds this year as against the practice of rolling them over. This is aimed at decelerating the debt stock in line with government’s strategic plan.
The minister recently unfolded a raft of incentives/measures to resuscitate the capital market and check abuses, over four years after the asset bubble created by margin lending and insider abuse burst. One of these is the granting of a forbearance of about N22.6 billion on the margin loans of 84 stockbrokers. Also, stamp duties and value added tax (VAT) on stock market transaction fees have been eliminated-- These have helped the market to rebound. Okonjo-Iweala achievements in the ministry in the last one year are legion. There is the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN), which is a flagship response to the unemployment challenge in the country. YOUWIN is a business plan competition to encourage talented young entrepreneurs to set up new businesses or expand existing ones, which will employ other people. Winners of the competition get between N1 million and N10 million in addition to low interest credit, mentoring and other forms of support. The projection is that between 80,000 and 100,000 jobs will be created in YOUWIN’s first three years.
The Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has commenced with an initial seed capital of $1 billion. With the SWF, the Nigerian economy is expected to become more attractive for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) while unrestricted spending of unanticipated income will be curtailed.
With foreign reserves of nearly $50 billion and the Excess Crude Account (ECA) of about $5 billion, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is already projecting Nigeria’s foreign reserves to increase to about $80 billion in the next four years.
However, on the flip of these positives are a number of socio-economic challenges including high unemployment, widening inequality, and huge infrastructure deficit gaps.
The minister has also been criticised for hanging on to the old prescriptions of the World Bank and the IMF, which champion spending cuts and austerity to the detriment of economic stimulus through which new jobs can be created.
THISDAY Assessment – Above Average

  Minister of Transport
Under Umar’s Watch,
Railways Have Come Alive
Senator Idris Umar is not a neophyte in government having been in the National Assembly before, though he could not be described as an expert in the transport industry before he was appointed.

For full assessment see:
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ministerial-scorecard-towards-may-29/148626/

Fani kayode the clown.

Rigging the rigger!

The man Soyinka and his over bloated ego

So, I just stumbled on the interview Wole Soyinka (WS) gave Sahara Reporters some days ago on diverse issues ranging from his relationship with Chinua Achebe to his views (jaundiced, I dare say) on the evolution of African Literature, the Biafran war, Nigeria and Nigerians in general in his glorified capacity as the first and only Nobel laureate of Nigerian extraction.

The interview was some sort of cathartic release for WS- an avenue for the Septuagenarian to vent his pent up frustration at the huge shadow the specter of his contemporary, Chinua Achebe continues to cast over him even in death while it also subtly read as a diatribe aimed at ‘literary ignoramuses,’ and all those who do not understand literature the way a Nobel laureate does and who cause embarrassment to the few like him who are in the serious business of literature.

While I couldn’t stop riling at this septuagenarian’s arrogance and sheer condescension at minor mortals (other literary luminaries with less global visibility) who dare to view life from a different perspective, I quickly understood Soyinka’s mindset when I came across the part in the interview where he reduced Achebe’s status and global literary influence into a cocoon, tagging Achebe a mere ‘storyteller’.

First off, WS is Nobel laureate and the world has come to accept him as deserving of this honor, but the verbiage in his writings (post Nobel) and the long-windedness of his responses in interviews leaves one wondering what exactly this erudite grammarian is trying so hard to validate. The best communicators are those who pass their message across in simple flowing language for ease of understanding and interaction.

Not Wole Soyinka, our famed Nobel laureate who is given to rigmarole and grandstanding- he chooses to obfuscate rather than edify, his choice of words try to deliberately confound rather than enlighten. I guess WS wants to conform- to be seen as the purveyor of sophisticated language and diction, expected (in his own estimation, I guess) of all those who have won such a reputable literary prize.

We all expect to show proficiency in any language we choose to communicate, but becoming verbose in response to straight forward questions where a simple answer would suffice? Read Wole Soyinka verbatim in the said interview when asked about his relationship with Achebe and insinuations they were enemies:
‘It would be stupid to claim that it was all constantly harmonious, but outsiders should at least learn some humility and learn to deal with facts. Where, in any corner of the globe, do you find perfect models of creative harmony, completely devoid of friction? We all have our individual artistic temperaments as well as partisanships in creative directions. And we have strong opinions on the merits of the products of our occupation.’

Now, tell me- if this isn’t arrant nonsense, I wonder what else is. Simple question, ‘Is this man your enemy? Then WS goes off a tangent. First off, this does not even answer or put to the matter to bed once and for all. Interpreting WS’ long windedness loosely says:
‘It would be a lie to say we never disagreed but where in the world do you find people of the same profession agreeing all the time? In the arts as it is with all other professions that hinge on creativity, each individual has his or her own preferences and sees things from their own perspective. We are all passionate about our work and what we do for a living.’

WS rambles further but nowhere does he say he and Achebe were good friends though he does imply they weren’t enemies. Definitely nowhere near C. Ronaldo’s clear stand that he and Messi are not friends as they don’t share drinks or have dinner together, when asked about his relationship with the Argentine footballer. If you don’t consider the above proof of WS’ verbiage, then try this for size in the same interview:

‘It is not all bleakness and aggravation however – I have probably given that impression, but the stridency of cluelessness, sometimes willful, has reached the heights of impiety. Vicarious appropriation is undignified, and it runs counter to the national pride it ostensibly promotes. Other voices are being drowned, or placed in a false position, who value and express the sensibilities between, respect the subtle threads that sustain, writers, even in their different orbits.’

This is WS’s response as a corollary to another question about his tortuous relationship with Achebe. Ofcourse, this is just part of the entire response he gave and without reading the full response, you can’t get the import of what WS was trying to say, but if this quoted response was perhaps torn off a newspaper and a reader saw only these 72words? He would be hard pressed to make out head or tail of it. Wasn’t this supposed to be just an interview? A PhD thesis perhaps?

I mean we’ve had other winners of the Nobel from Africa after Soyinka, haven’t we? And we enjoy reading them. Soyinka says they are all language users– meaning they routinely apply language’s techniques to communicate.

We have read Nadine Godimer- the South African activist who won the Prize in 1991 and seen her apply the techniques of language. She always comes across simply and lucidly without boring us with rare, scrabble words and long winding phrases. Even secondary school students and University freshers are able to understand her.

John Coetzee and Nahguib Mahfouz are in similar company and all seek to enlighten as they use language and apply its techniques, but not WS who must try to project an elevated form of his craft for applause, bamboozling the less sophisticated.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

What caught my attention about this interview was WS’s response to a question on claims Achebe was the Father Of African Literature. Sahara Reporters pointed out Achebe himself had on many occasions rejected this claim in interviews and WS quickly agreed with them and Achebe’s stance while alive. I am not here to argue whether Achebe was indeed the Father of African Literature or not. This honor is only titular as is subject to different levels of acquiescence from different people.

However, that Achebe refused this titular honor while alive does not invalidate it, if indeed many felt so. It just goes to show the modesty of the man- refusing to arrogate to himself a title that had no empirical backing, one that was not conferred on him by any recognized body but by the masses and other literary luminaries.

Indeed, Micheal Jackson never ever called himself the King of Pop, but we all agreed he was. If anyone had taken time to ask him while he was alive, he wouldn’t have agreed most probably out of humility, even if he knew in his heart he was. Modesty demands you never accept such generic titles publicly in your lifetime.

It would be a different answer if you walked up to Micheal Jackson and said his Thriller album was the highest selling of all time. Here there are hard figures to back it up, so he would accept- not a titular honor like King Of Pop which modesty demands you never confer on self.

Back to WS and his offhand dismissal of Achebe’s title as Father Of African Literature. In his desperation to convince us otherwise, WS employs warped logic to buttress this needless rebuttal. He asks what acquaintance with other African literatures like Francophone, Lusophone, Zulu, Xhosa, Ewe those who make such claims have?

So the question we must ask WS is- ‘In making acquaintance with those literatures from other African writers, need we go to those locales to be conversant with them? If their works were any good, they would be popular even internationally. Of what influence have their works been on the global stage?

WS had this glorious opportunity given by Sahara reporters to confer on a late colleague a titular title that would have been the biggest tribute ever paid a fellow professional colleague but chose rather to even belittle the legacy calling him a mere story teller. Yet WS went ahead to include himself in the league of ‘pioneer contemporary quartet’ of Nigerian writers- his own creation.

If I may ask WS, in African literature, he is a pioneer of what? Contemporary what? What is his definition of contemporary? What makes him think that others that came before him were not contemporary? Or not pioneers for that matter? Contemporary by layman’s definition simply means modern or present day. Who told WS he is modern or present day? What timeline is he using? So Helon Habilla or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie can also claim to be pioneers of contemporary African Literature, cant they?
Please if everyone else is afraid to tell WS the truth, I will- Soyinka is a pioneer of nothing. Others came before him and others have come after him. He is only in the middle. African Literature or even Nigerian Literature did not begin with him, so how do you pioneer what you didn’t start? Soyinka only pioneered the act of receiving Nobel awards, so if he must, he should coin an honor along that line.
So if WS arrogated to himself a title as a Pioneer of Contemporary African Literature nay Nigerian writers which has no recognition anywhere other than passive acquiescence, what makes WS feel Achebe cannot also enjoy the titular honor of Father Of African Literature given him, not just by Nigerians, but the world (who WS says, ‘have seized on this silliness with glee, legitimized their ignorance, their parlous knowledge and enabled them to circumscribe, then adopt a patronizing approach to African literatures and creativity) at large?

For sake of argument, even if Achebe is not the Father of African Literature as Wole Soyinka so desperately wants us to believe, he is indeed the Father of Contemporary African Literature, a classification which WS has agreed exists. The only locus standi WS has to insult our sensibilities with his parochial ramblings is because of the inexplicable decision of the Nobel Academy in 1986, so he shouldn’t deify himself or become legend in his own mind as he so obviously has.

Hear WS when asked about the nature of Achebe’s enduring influence and impact in African literature and how he (WS) sees Achebe’s place in the canon of world literature. ‘Chinua's place in the canon of world literature? Wherever the art of the story-teller is celebrated, definitely assured.’

Can you imagine such a surprisingly short and pithy response from a grandstanding old man who used more than a thousand words in the same interview to cast aspersions on the character and integrity of those who criticize him but used less than these two dozen words to properly situate the efforts his contemporary in the annals of history?’

I guess even in death and without the Holy Grail of Literature, Achebe’s stature still towers over the Nobel winner, who obviously is not one to patronize a more celebrated colleague. WS, you could do with some patronage- he who refuses to celebrate a King can never be a King. I guess this is why even with his Nobel, WS finds it difficult to understand why Achebe seems to be more revered than him.

When asked to evaluate Achebe’s role in popularizing African Literature via African Writers Series, AWS, Soyinka never gets to talk about Achebe’s efforts, but goes off a tangent attacking the credibility of the series and reinforcing his stance 50years ago when the series was launched. Many of us born in the late 70’s and early 80’s grew up reading authors from that series, a worthy initiative WS refused to support, and which Achebe championed as a pioneer editor.

Pride, I guess will not let WS admit he made a mistake by not subscribing to this laudable initiative then, on the suspicion it would fall into ‘ghetto classifications’- another of the meaningless words he bandies about to reinforce his dated reasoning. I mean, the AWS was a worthy initiative created by Heinemann in 1962 that educated most of us and had authors like Ngugi Wa’ Thiongo, Godimer, Steve Biko, Buchi Emecheta, Cyprian Ekwensi etc. It gave these post independence writers a platform from which they rose to global acclaim.
They educated and inspired most of us- we read books like Burning grass, No Longer At Ease, Zambia Shall Be Free, Weep Not Child, The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born etc and those books have stood us in good stead till this day.

Instead of owning up and saying he was wrong not to support the initiative when it came on stream, WS sits smugly today to still foolishly call this series ‘Onitsha Market Literature,’ with a sweetener that though the authors were not Onitsha Market standard, outside forces consigned the series as such. So if unscrupulous marketers and pirates hijacked the publishing and marketing of the series, does that detract from the quality of the works? This man is a joke. Perhaps his is sliding slowly and steadily into senile dementia.

On Achebe’s last book, There Was A Country, WS agrees he never discussed the book with the author but wished the book was never written, as there are statements in the book he wished Achebe never made.

While he only stopped short of thrashing the book into the dust bin, he didn’t fail to leverage on the sterile literacy of the book to fire broadsides at some of his critics- a certain Maja Pearce, a present day publisher who was the African Editor of an International magazine as far back as 1983, a magazine that was publishing Wole Soyinka at the time.

This man gave a not so nice review of Soyinka’s book more than a quarter century ago and for that, he is and will always be an ‘inept hustler’ in WS’s mind. So I guess you must be a Nobel Laureate before you shed the toga of inept hustler. WS must be a very vindictive man.

When asked about young African writers of today, WS only remembered to say he always fought the temptation to throw some of their works out the window whenever he was held up in traffic, the only time he ever had time to go through their works.

He couldn’t mention a single book by a young author he had enjoyed reading, WS couldn’t mention a single author he enjoys reading or had mentored. This singular mention would have skyrocketed the writers reputation and sent people scrambling for his book, but no, not WS, he doesn’t indulge anyone. Such a mean man.

He refused to even endorse a single young writer as the most obvious; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a protégé of his more cerebrated colleague, Achebe. Most younger generation writers have been inspired by Achebe and not WS, so I guess smarting from such snobbery, WS was in no mood to patronize any.

WS arrogates to himself the power of omniscience- knowing it all and takes everyone else- fellow writers, those outside the literary circles, critics, new writers and all else alike, to the cleaners. All through the interview, he never gives credit to anyone yet berates all and sundry for their perceived lack of intelligence, understanding or acumen.

Look at how he even describes some of his contemporaries: ‘JP (Clark) remains as irrepressible, contumacious and irascible as he was during that creative ferment of the early sixties. Christopher (Okigbo) was ebullient. Chinua mostly hid himself away in Lagos, intervening robustly in MBARI affairs with deceptive disinclination.’
How complimentary is this? Or is describing a colleague as irascible, patronizing? Anyway, that word, contumacious? Is that a word used in every day discourse? Especially in an interview that even minors are reading? But ofcourse, who am I to question our all knowing Nobel laureate. He sends us scrambling for our dictionaries just as quickly as Pastor Chris and the Bini court jester, Patrick Obahiagbon.

WS goes further to talk about Nigerians and their misplaced sense of entitlement, an accusation for which he is very much guilty. ‘It is a Nigerian disease,’ he says. ‘Nigerians need to be purged of a certain kind of arrogance of expectations, of demand, of self-attribution, of a spurious sense and assertion of entitlement. It goes beyond art and literature. It covers all aspects of interaction with others. Wherever you witness a case of ‘It’s MINE, and no other’s’, ‘it’s OURS, not theirs’, at various levels of vicarious ownership, such aggressive voices, ninety percent of the time, are bound to be Nigerians. This is a syndrome I have had cause to confront defensively with hundreds of Africans and non-Africans. It is what plagues Nigeria at the moment –’

WS sees himself as the custodian literary ethos of the African continent. This posturing is evident in his later day writings, speeches and interviews; especially this very one he gave Sahara Reporters. To him, every other person (apart from the few he grudgingly concedes to, like Achebe, Clark, Okigbo etc) are outsiders, they cannot and must not be accepted into the ‘literary hall’ of fame he belongs as long he lives. They are simply not good enough, not fit, not worthy to be accepted into the pantheon he occupies by virtue that singular prouncement of 1986.

This parochial mindset of a ‘supposed’ mentor is very bad for the development of the nation and a binder on the conveyor belt of literary talent on rotation in Nigeria. Truth be told, in his heart of hearts, I am sure WS does not want any other Nigerian to get this prize in his lifetime so his deification by the Lagos- Ibadan axis press will continue while I am also quite sure he wasn’t too happy that another African, the Egyptian won the prize just two years after him. Two other Africans have also since joined him on the Nobel podium.

Though I have been greatly influenced by the works of Achebe, I do not hold brief for the late writer. He died a bitter old man for a clutch of reasons- the ‘genocide’ perpetrated by the Government against his people half a centrury ago, the near state of anarchy his homeland degenerated to while in exile and of course his inability to win that Nobel when an ‘inferior’ colleague enjoyed that honor for more than a quarter century while he lived. Such is the paradox of the quintessential preferment of fate and the inexplicable workings of celestial mechanics as ordained by the almighty.

Going by this interview, WS is a hard sell as an altruistic personality. His choice of language is most times crude and at best condescending- he calls others illiterates, ignoramuses, hustlers, upstarts, misfits and all manner of derogatory words. For a man occupying such an exalted place in public space, I find this especially distasteful and obnoxious.

He is a teacher and mentor and his demeanor should reflect this in his interactions and public remarks. Couching broadsides and thinly veiled barbs in verbosely constructed lingua fools no one and does him no favors. Giving honor to whom honor is due also does not lessen him or his achievements in any way.

Trying to belittle a colleague’s legacy however subtly done, is tantamount to crass classlessness and ‘yellowbellics’ the likes of which he, WS accuses many of. Achebe is not just a mere storyteller, that he is a continental nay, global icon as well as an institution is something even he, WS cannot change.

That Soyinka lives in perpetual state of self denial of Achebe’s higher station of literary influence is no longer hidden. His chagrin that Achebe’s global endorsement as Africa’s greatest puts a lie to his own literary pretensions as Africa’s Numero Uno drives him into making envious statements like ‘referring to Achebe as the Father Of African Literature is literary ignorance or “momentary exuberance’.
How uncouth can a man get? I rest my case.

So, I just stumbled on the interview Wole Soyinka (WS) gave Sahara Reporters some days ago on diverse issues ranging from his relationship with Chinua Achebe to his views (jaundiced, I dare say) on the evolution of African Literature, the Biafran war, Nigeria and Nigerians in general in his glorified capacity as the first and only Nobel laureate of Nigerian extraction.

The interview was some sort of cathartic release for WS- an avenue for the Septuagenarian to vent his pent up frustration at the huge shadow the specter of his contemporary, Chinua Achebe continues to cast over him even in death while it also subtly read as a diatribe aimed at ‘literary ignoramuses,’ and all those who do not understand literature the way a Nobel laureate does and who cause embarrassment to the few like him who are in the serious business of literature.

While I couldn’t stop riling at this septuagenarian’s arrogance and sheer condescension at minor mortals (other literary luminaries with less global visibility) who dare to view life from a different perspective, I quickly understood Soyinka’s mindset when I came across the part in the interview where he reduced Achebe’s status and global literary influence into a cocoon, tagging Achebe a mere ‘storyteller’.

First off, WS is Nobel laureate and the world has come to accept him as deserving of this honor, but the verbiage in his writings (post Nobel) and the long-windedness of his responses in interviews leaves one wondering what exactly this erudite grammarian is trying so hard to validate. The best communicators are those who pass their message across in simple flowing language for ease of understanding and interaction.

Not Wole Soyinka, our famed Nobel laureate who is given to rigmarole and grandstanding- he chooses to obfuscate rather than edify, his choice of words try to deliberately confound rather than enlighten. I guess WS wants to conform- to be seen as the purveyor of sophisticated language and diction, expected (in his own estimation, I guess) of all those who have won such a reputable literary prize.

We all expect to show proficiency in any language we choose to communicate, but becoming verbose in response to straight forward questions where a simple answer would suffice? Read Wole Soyinka verbatim in the said interview when asked about his relationship with Achebe and insinuations they were enemies:
‘It would be stupid to claim that it was all constantly harmonious, but outsiders should at least learn some humility and learn to deal with facts. Where, in any corner of the globe, do you find perfect models of creative harmony, completely devoid of friction? We all have our individual artistic temperaments as well as partisanships in creative directions. And we have strong opinions on the merits of the products of our occupation.’

Now, tell me- if this isn’t arrant nonsense, I wonder what else is. Simple question, ‘Is this man your enemy? Then WS goes off a tangent. First off, this does not even answer or put to the matter to bed once and for all. Interpreting WS’ long windedness loosely says:
‘It would be a lie to say we never disagreed but where in the world do you find people of the same profession agreeing all the time? In the arts as it is with all other professions that hinge on creativity, each individual has his or her own preferences and sees things from their own perspective. We are all passionate about our work and what we do for a living.’

WS rambles further but nowhere does he say he and Achebe were good friends though he does imply they weren’t enemies. Definitely nowhere near C. Ronaldo’s clear stand that he and Messi are not friends as they don’t share drinks or have dinner together, when asked about his relationship with the Argentine footballer. If you don’t consider the above proof of WS’ verbiage, then try this for size in the same interview:

‘It is not all bleakness and aggravation however – I have probably given that impression, but the stridency of cluelessness, sometimes willful, has reached the heights of impiety. Vicarious appropriation is undignified, and it runs counter to the national pride it ostensibly promotes. Other voices are being drowned, or placed in a false position, who value and express the sensibilities between, respect the subtle threads that sustain, writers, even in their different orbits.’

This is WS’s response as a corollary to another question about his tortuous relationship with Achebe. Ofcourse, this is just part of the entire response he gave and without reading the full response, you can’t get the import of what WS was trying to say, but if this quoted response was perhaps torn off a newspaper and a reader saw only these 72words? He would be hard pressed to make out head or tail of it. Wasn’t this supposed to be just an interview? A PhD thesis perhaps?

I mean we’ve had other winners of the Nobel from Africa after Soyinka, haven’t we? And we enjoy reading them. Soyinka says they are all language users– meaning they routinely apply language’s techniques to communicate.

We have read Nadine Godimer- the South African activist who won the Prize in 1991 and seen her apply the techniques of language. She always comes across simply and lucidly without boring us with rare, scrabble words and long winding phrases. Even secondary school students and University freshers are able to understand her.

John Coetzee and Nahguib Mahfouz are in similar company and all seek to enlighten as they use language and apply its techniques, but not WS who must try to project an elevated form of his craft for applause, bamboozling the less sophisticated.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

What caught my attention about this interview was WS’s response to a question on claims Achebe was the Father Of African Literature. Sahara Reporters pointed out Achebe himself had on many occasions rejected this claim in interviews and WS quickly agreed with them and Achebe’s stance while alive. I am not here to argue whether Achebe was indeed the Father of African Literature or not. This honor is only titular as is subject to different levels of acquiescence from different people.

However, that Achebe refused this titular honor while alive does not invalidate it, if indeed many felt so. It just goes to show the modesty of the man- refusing to arrogate to himself a title that had no empirical backing, one that was not conferred on him by any recognized body but by the masses and other literary luminaries.

Indeed, Micheal Jackson never ever called himself the King of Pop, but we all agreed he was. If anyone had taken time to ask him while he was alive, he wouldn’t have agreed most probably out of humility, even if he knew in his heart he was. Modesty demands you never accept such generic titles publicly in your lifetime.

It would be a different answer if you walked up to Micheal Jackson and said his Thriller album was the highest selling of all time. Here there are hard figures to back it up, so he would accept- not a titular honor like King Of Pop which modesty demands you never confer on self.

Back to WS and his offhand dismissal of Achebe’s title as Father Of African Literature. In his desperation to convince us otherwise, WS employs warped logic to buttress this needless rebuttal. He asks what acquaintance with other African literatures like Francophone, Lusophone, Zulu, Xhosa, Ewe those who make such claims have?

So the question we must ask WS is- ‘In making acquaintance with those literatures from other African writers, need we go to those locales to be conversant with them? If their works were any good, they would be popular even internationally. Of what influence have their works been on the global stage?

WS had this glorious opportunity given by Sahara reporters to confer on a late colleague a titular title that would have been the biggest tribute ever paid a fellow professional colleague but chose rather to even belittle the legacy calling him a mere story teller. Yet WS went ahead to include himself in the league of ‘pioneer contemporary quartet’ of Nigerian writers- his own creation.

If I may ask WS, in African literature, he is a pioneer of what? Contemporary what? What is his definition of contemporary? What makes him think that others that came before him were not contemporary? Or not pioneers for that matter? Contemporary by layman’s definition simply means modern or present day. Who told WS he is modern or present day? What timeline is he using? So Helon Habilla or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie can also claim to be pioneers of contemporary African Literature, cant they?

Please if everyone else is afraid to tell WS the truth, I will- Soyinka is a pioneer of nothing. Others came before him and others have come after him. He is only in the middle. African Literature or even Nigerian Literature did not begin with him, so how do you pioneer what you didn’t start? Soyinka only pioneered the act of receiving Nobel awards, so if he must, he should coin an honor along that line.

So if WS arrogated to himself a title as a Pioneer of Contemporary African Literature nay Nigerian writers which has no recognition anywhere other than passive acquiescence, what makes WS feel Achebe cannot also enjoy the titular honor of Father Of African Literature given him, not just by Nigerians, but the world (who WS says, ‘have seized on this silliness with glee, legitimized their ignorance, their parlous knowledge and enabled them to circumscribe, then adopt a patronizing approach to African literatures and creativity) at large?

For sake of argument, even if Achebe is not the Father of African Literature as Wole Soyinka so desperately wants us to believe, he is indeed the Father of Contemporary African Literature, a classification which WS has agreed exists. The only locus standi WS has to insult our sensibilities with his parochial ramblings is because of the inexplicable decision of the Nobel Academy in 1986, so he shouldn’t deify himself or become legend in his own mind as he so obviously has.

Hear WS when asked about the nature of Achebe’s enduring influence and impact in African literature and how he (WS) sees Achebe’s place in the canon of world literature. ‘Chinua's place in the canon of world literature? Wherever the art of the story-teller is celebrated, definitely assured.’

Can you imagine such a surprisingly short and pithy response from a grandstanding old man who used more than a thousand words in the same interview to cast aspersions on the character and integrity of those who criticize him but used less than these two dozen words to properly situate the efforts his contemporary in the annals of history?’

I guess even in death and without the Holy Grail of Literature, Achebe’s stature still towers over the Nobel winner, who obviously is not one to patronize a more celebrated colleague. WS, you could do with some patronage- he who refuses to celebrate a King can never be a King. I guess this is why even with his Nobel, WS finds it difficult to understand why Achebe seems to be more revered than him.

When asked to evaluate Achebe’s role in popularizing African Literature via African Writers Series, AWS, Soyinka never gets to talk about Achebe’s efforts, but goes off a tangent attacking the credibility of the series and reinforcing his stance 50years ago when the series was launched. Many of us born in the late 70’s and early 80’s grew up reading authors from that series, a worthy initiative WS refused to support, and which Achebe championed as a pioneer editor.

Pride, I guess will not let WS admit he made a mistake by not subscribing to this laudable initiative then, on the suspicion it would fall into ‘ghetto classifications’- another of the meaningless words he bandies about to reinforce his dated reasoning. I mean, the AWS was a worthy initiative created by Heinemann in 1962 that educated most of us and had authors like Ngugi Wa’ Thiongo, Godimer, Steve Biko, Buchi Emecheta, Cyprian Ekwensi etc. It gave these post independence writers a platform from which they rose to global acclaim.

They educated and inspired most of us- we read books like Burning grass, No Longer At Ease, Zambia Shall Be Free, Weep Not Child, The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born etc and those books have stood us in good stead till this day.

Instead of owning up and saying he was wrong not to support the initiative when it came on stream, WS sits smugly today to still foolishly call this series ‘Onitsha Markey Literature,’ with a sweetener that though the authors were not Onitsha Market standard, outside forces consigned the series as such. So if unscrupulous marketers and pirates hijacked the publishing and marketing of the series, does that detract from the quality of the works? This man is a joke. Perhaps his is sliding slowly and steadily into senile dementia.

On Achebe’s last book, There Was A Country, WS agrees he never discussed the book with the author but wished the book was never written, as there are statements in the book he wished Achebe never made.

While he only stopped short of thrashing the book into the dust bin, he didn’t fail to leverage on the sterile literacy of the book to fire broadsides at some of his critics- a certain Maja Pearce, a present day publisher who was the African Editor of an International magazine as far back as 1983, a magazine that was publishing Wole Soyinka at the time.

This man gave a not so nice review of Soyinka’s book more than a quarter century ago and for that, he is and will always be an ‘inept hustler’ in WS’s mind. So I guess you must be a Nobel Laureate before you shed the toga of inept hustler. WS must be a very vindictive man.

When asked about young African writers of today, WS only remembered to say he always fought the temptation to throw some of their works out the window whenever he was held up in traffic, the only time he ever had time to go through their works.

He couldn’t mention a single book by a young author he had enjoyed reading, WS couldn’t mention a single author he enjoys reading or had mentored. This singular mention would have skyrocketed the writers reputation and sent people scrambling for his book, but no, not WS, he doesn’t indulge anyone. Such a mean man.

He refused to even endorse a single young writer as the most obvious; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a protégé of his more cerebrated colleague, Achebe. Most younger generation writers have been inspired by Achebe and not WS, so I guess smarting from such snobbery, WS was in no mood to patronize any.

WS arrogates to himself the power of omniscience- knowing it all and takes everyone else- fellow writers, those outside the literary circles, critics, new writers and all else alike, to the cleaners. All through the interview, he never gives credit to anyone yet berates all and sundry for their perceived lack of intelligence, understanding or acumen.

Look at how he even describes some of his contemporaries: ‘JP (Clark) remains as irrepressible, contumacious and irascible as he was during that creative ferment of the early sixties. Christopher (Okigbo) was ebullient. Chinua mostly hid himself away in Lagos, intervening robustly in MBARI affairs with deceptive disinclination.’
How complimentary is this? Or is describing a colleague as irascible, patronizing? Anyway, that word, contumacious? Is that a word used in every day discourse? Especially in an interview that even minors are reading? But ofcourse, who am I to question our all knowing Nobel laureate. He sends us scrambling for our dictionaries just as quickly as Pastor Chris and the Bini court jester, Patrick Obahiagbon.

WS goes further to talk about Nigerians and their misplaced sense of entitlement, an accusation for which he is very much guilty. ‘It is a Nigerian disease,’ he says. ‘Nigerians need to be purged of a certain kind of arrogance of expectations, of demand, of self-attribution, of a spurious sense and assertion of entitlement. It goes beyond art and literature. It covers all aspects of interaction with others. Wherever you witness a case of ‘It’s MINE, and no other’s’, ‘it’s OURS, not theirs’, at various levels of vicarious ownership, such aggressive voices, ninety percent of the time, are bound to be Nigerians. This is a syndrome I have had cause to confront defensively with hundreds of Africans and non-Africans. It is what plagues Nigeria at the moment –’

WS sees himself as the custodian literary ethos of the African continent. This posturing is evident in his later day writings, speeches and interviews; especially this very one he gave Sahara Reporters.

To him, every other person (apart from the few he grudgingly concedes to, like Achebe, Clark, Okigbo etc) are outsiders, they cannot and must not be accepted into the ‘literary hall’ of fame he belongs as long he lives. They are simply not good enough, not fit, not worthy to be accepted into the pantheon he occupies by virtue that singular prouncement of 1986.

This parochial mindset of a ‘supposed’ mentor is very bad for the development of the nation and a binder on the conveyor belt of literary talent on rotation in Nigeria. Truth be told, in his heart of hearts, I am sure WS does not want any other Nigerian to get this prize in his lifetime so his deification by the Lagos- Ibadan axis press will continue while I am also quite sure he wasn’t too happy that another African, the Egyptian won the prize just two years after him. Two other Africans have also since joined him on the Nobel podium.

Though I have been greatly influenced by the works of Achebe, I do not hold brief for the late writer. He died a bitter old man for a clutch of reasons- the ‘genocide’ perpetrated by the Government against his people half a centrury ago, the near state of anarchy his homeland degenerated to while in exile and of course his inability to win that Nobel when an ‘inferior’ colleague enjoyed that honor for more than a quarter century while he lived. Such is the paradox of the quintessential preferment of fate and the inexplicable workings of celestial mechanics as ordained by the almighty.

Going by this interview, WS is a hard sell as an altruistic personality. His choice of language is most times crude and at best condescending- he calls others illiterates, ignoramuses, hustlers, upstarts, misfits and all manner of derogatory words. For a man occupying such an exalted place in public space, I find this especially distasteful and obnoxious.

He is a teacher and mentor and his demeanor should reflect this in his interactions and public remarks. Couching broadsides and thinly veiled barbs in delicately or verbosely constructed lingua fools no one and does him no favors. Giving honor to whom honor is due also does not lessen him or his achievements in any way.

Trying to belittle a colleague’s legacy however subtly done, is tantamount to crass classlessness and ‘yellowbellics’ the likes of which he, WS accuses many of. Achebe is not just a mere storyteller, that he is a continental nay, global icon as well as an institution is something even he, WS cannot change.

That Soyinka lives in perpetual state of self denial of Achebe’s higher station of literary influence is no longer hidden. His chagrin that Achebe’s global endorsement as Africa’s greatest puts a lie to his own literary pretensions as Africa’s Numero Uno drives him into making envious statements like ‘referring to Achebe as the Father Of African Literature is literary ignorance or “momentary exuberance’.

How uncouth can a man get? I rest my case.

davidofadventure@gmail.com

Leave that guy jare. Its obvious he has a doctor jekyll and Mr hyde personality. He got issues to deal with. Free him. And go ahead wit ur life. He doesn't want u, he only needs u...for the time being

Story. So the canada no dey show for him nody? Its not about d clothes or fone or where u even say u work. Except u r livin in the ghetto in canada and look very agegeish, d girl will knw u r a good catch. Even if u r using nokia 3310

Go to church and get a born again babe.

Be firm, be strong, be strong..dispense ur duties without fear or favor.
God Bless Nigeria

I tot chime was supposed to be in hospital. Is the President commissioning these projects with the deputy governor?

Collateral damage must be kept at the barest minumum. Tough but can be done.