Nobel Laurette, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said contrary to the government’s position, the Boko Haram insurgency was far from being over.
Soyinka, who spoke at the National Conference on Culture and Tourism on Wednesday, said till now he does not understand what the government meant by Boko Haram being “militarily degraded”.
Speaking on the threat by Fulani herdsmen and what happens after the defeat of Boko Haram, Soyinka said: After Boko Haram, what next?
“In fact, at this moment, Boko Haram has no ‘after’ since it is by no means ended, no matter what technical expressions such as ‘militarily degraded’ means.”
Soyinka said he was shocked by the reaction of President Muhammadu Buhari to the solution he proposed to the challenges posed by the herdsmen.
He said in the speech titled: “The killing culture of the neo-nomadic,” that the invasion of communities by the herdsmen needed to be tackled as the perpetrators have virtually taken over from Boko Haram despite the fact that the insurgents were still active.
He said: “But let us assume indeed that we are already in the past of Boko Haram. It is now clear that the succession is already decided, the ‘vacated’ space is already conceded, and that the new territorial aspirants are already securely positioned. The entire nation appears to be theirs without a struggle, and the continuity of an established Nigerian necropolis north to south and east to west is being consolidated.
“Some necropoles are actually architecturally fascinating. They attract visitors from distant places, but those are works of veneration, artistry and dedication. They are visual feasts, among whose structures the visitors actually picnic, leave flowers and symbolic gifts to hovering ancestors. Latin America is full of them. The Nigerian widening necropoles leave only the taste of bile in the mouth, the corrosion of hate, stench and rage.
“When I read a short while ago, the Presidential assurance to this nation that the current homicidal escalation between the cattle prowlers and farming communities would soon be over, I felt mortified. He had the solution, he said. Cattle ranches were being set up, and in another 18 months, rustlings, destruction of livelihood and killings from herdsmen would be ‘a thing of the past’. Eighteen months, he assured the nation. I believe his Minister of Agriculture echoed that later, but with a less dispiriting time schema. Neither, however, could be considered a message of solace and reassurance for the ordinary Nigerian farmer and the lengthening cast of victims, much less to an intending tourist to the Forest Retreat of Tinana in the Rivers, the Ikogosi Springs or the moslem architectural heritage of the ancient city of Kano. In any case, the external tourists have less hazardous options.”
. Full speech published elsewhere on this news website.