The presidency has been reacting to recent comments
by Professor Wole Soyinka, suggesting that under the present
government Nigeria has become more divided than ever
before.
Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media
and Publicity, says while the Nobel Laureate is respected and
revered, not everything he utters should be taken absolutely.
“Professor Wole Soyinka is somebody we respect, you don’t
have them too many in a country, even on a
continent. Professor Soyinka is an icon, he is an avatar, we
respect him, we listen to him but then we don’t take everything he
says hook, line, and sinker,” the president’s special adviser
said.
According to Adesina who on Wednesday was a guest on Channels
Television’s Politics Today, President Buhari inherited a
“terribly” divided country, one which he has been trying
to reunite since he came to power back in 2015.
Obasanjo’s Comment: Not Every Criticism Should Give You
Sleepless Nights – Adesina
Obasanjo Says Nigeria Is Falling Apart Under Buhari, Offers
Solution
Nigeria More Divided Than Ever Before, Soyinka Backs
Obasanjo
The president’s media aide said, “Nigeria had always been
divided. Always. Right from amalgamation in 1914, Nigeria has
always been divided. Nigeria is an inconvenient amalgamation but we
have worked at it and I tell you that there is no time in the
history of this country that the country was not divided but then
we had kept at it and we were trying to make it work.
“As of 2015, when President Buhari came, Nigeria was
terribly, terribly divided; divided along religious lines, divided
along ethnic lines; divided along language, divided hopelessly,
terribly and that is the division that the President had been
working at. But you see that a lot of people instead of letting
harmony return to this country, thrive and luxuriate in widening
the gulf. They play politics with everything.”
Similarly, Adesina said not every criticism against the
Buhari-led administration should be taken seriously.
Addressing recent comments by former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, the media aide said all criticisms must be thoroughly
looked at to ascertain what value they add to discussions around
moving the nation forward.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Obasanjo while delivering a speech titled ‘Moving Nigeria Away
from Tipping Over’ at a consultative dialogue attended by various
socio-cultural groups, said Nigeria is falling apart under
Buhari.
At the consultative dialogue attended by members of various
groups, including Afenifere, Middle Belt Forum, Northern Elders
Forum, Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, and Pan Niger Delta Forum, Obasanjo noted
that the country is becoming the world capital of poverty.
Adesina.
He said, “I do appreciate that you all feel sad and
embarrassed as most of us feel as Nigerians with the situation we
find ourselves in,” Obasanjo said. “Today, Nigeria is fast drifting
to a failed and badly divided state; economically our country is
becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and
socially, we are firming up as an unwholesome and insecure
country.
“And these manifestations are the products of recent
mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic development of our
country. Old fault lines that were disappearing have opened up in
greater fissures and with drums of hatred, disintegration, and
separation and accompanying choruses being heard loud and clear
almost everywhere.”
In reaction to Obasanjo’s comments, Adesina argued that “not
every criticism should give one sleepless night”.
According to Adesina, there is no government that Obasanjo has
not criticized.
“Obasanjo has criticised every government since the Shehu
Shagari government that succeeded him in 1979. The only
government he has not criticised is the Olusegun Obasanjo
government”.
The media aide added that Obasanjo has a right to air his
opinions, he, however, stressed that it is in the Buhari
government’s right to take the former president’s reproval or
dismiss them as mere claims aimed to detract from a performing
administration.
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/09/17/nigeria-had-always-been-divided-presidency-replies-soyinka/