Home / News From Nigeria / Breaking News / Nigeria Is Sinking Under Buhari – Soyinka
Wole soyinka

Nigeria Is Sinking Under Buhari – Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Thursday lamented that Nigeria is sinking under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari as he has failed to deliver on his promises.

Soyinka, who spoke in Johannesburg, South Africa, according to Punch, which quoted AFP, said he was not surprised that Buhari had lost popularity just 18 months into office, given the high expectations that weighed on his government.

 

The former military ruler won the 2015 election on an agenda of “change”, vowing to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency, fight graft, fix broken infrastructure and heal the economy.

But since his election, the economy has officially gone into recession and global energy prices have plummeted.

 

A relentless rebel campaign to sabotage the production of oil, the country’s main export, has added to the woes.

“There’s nothing surprising to me about his losing popularity, it should be expected,” said Soyinka, who was a fierce critic of Buhari’s earlier term as head of state after taking power in a coup in 1983.

“People wanted change, that word was not just a slogan, it was a promise,” Soyinka said in Johannesburg.

But when he took over power, “Nigeria was sinking”.

“Fulfilling political promises when you take over the reins of power and you have to clean up a lot of mess, it’s not easy,” said the Nobel prize-winning author.

 

The ex-military ruler has seen his approval ratings decline in recent months from 80 percent last year to 41 percent this September, according to analysis firm BMI Research.  Soyinka said while Buhari was the better choice of the two candidates in last year’s vote where he squared off against ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, it was high time the country weaned itself off leaders with military backgrounds.

 

“I was not particularly enamoured of the idea of a military person continuing — for heaven’s sake, it’s been too long,” he said.

“I feel very passionate that it’s about time that we eliminated the last vestiges of military control, of military representation. It’s as if there are no brains outside the military.”

Nigeria abandoned military rule in 1999 in favour of multi-party democracy following six military coups after independence from Britain in 1960.

 
Published on December 1, 2016 by pmnews

About Lolade

2 comments

  1. Johnson Chidozie

    In the middle fo an economic war with the globalists, i think this man is pro-globalist honestly. Well, very simple…. just prepare yourself for 2019. It’s very easy to criticize especially when you’re at the receiving end.

  2. Temitayo Adedigba

    The Prof was misquoted.This was not exactly how he said it.

Viral Video

Support Ooduarere

SUPPORT OODUARERE
Scan QR code below to Donate Bitcoin to Ooduarere
Bitcoin address:
1FN2hvx5tGG7PisyzzDoypdX37TeWa9uwb
x

Check Also

Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna

How time flies: What happened on this day in 1966..

The two most marginalised regions in Nigeria are the Northeast and Southeast. The last time the Northeast held power at the top was exactly 58 years ago today. On this day, in 1966, it was revealed to the nation that the Prime Minister was dead. His body was later discovered in a bush outside Lagos by several persons, including Segun Osoba, former Governor of Ogun state, who was then a reporter at Daily Times.  He had been killed by Major ...