Prof. Wole Soyinka
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says his generation has failed the country.
Speaking on Hard Talk, a BBC programme,
the professor said the dreams people of his generation had about the
country had not materialized.
The Cable reports that Zeinab
Badawi, anchor of the programme, had asked the literary scholar, “Has
your generation of older Nigerians failed the people?”
The professor responded, “Yes, I believe
so. I compare today with dreams and aspirations we had when we all
rushed home after studies abroad. We considered ourselves the
renaissance people that were going to lift the continent to world
standards, competitors anywhere. It hasn’t happened.”
Asked to comment about the 2019
presidential election, he said, “The 2019 election is one of the most
depressing elections we’ve been through. Talking for myself, it wasn’t
possible for me to make a choice for the simple reason that both
candidates (President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar) had histories
– one immediate, one past – which made one look for alternatives.”
He explained why he was soft on Buhari in 2015 when he referred to the president as a born again democrat.
Soyinka said Buhari did not win the 2015
election because the people were endeared to him but for the fact that
Nigerians could not continue with former President Goodluck Jonathan in
office.
“General Buhari didn’t really win the
first election, he won by default. It was impossible to continue with
Jonathan (back in 2015).
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