Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has appealed to Nigerians to remain calm in the face of increased attacks by the Boko Horam group and not allow themselves to be dragged into carrying out the agenda of the group.
Soyinka, who spoke at a town hall meeting organised by the Save Nigeria Group, noted that the intention of the Boko Haram group is to drag Nigerians into retaliating their attacks on their neighbours who may be of other tribes or religious orientation.
He said the appeal, which was also contained in a letter to Nigerians and jointly signed by Prof. Chinua Achebe, John Pepper Clark and himself earlier, became necessary in order not to fall for the plan of the group and give them reasons to destabilise the nation.
While commending the new Nigerian spirit, which became evident in the massive protest against the removal of fuel subsidy, he urged Nigerians to continue to agitate against the hydra headed beast and octopus that corruption has become in the nation.
He further called for the abolition of full time legislature in the country.
According to him, the Nigerian legislature has become the harbinger of corruption and instead of trying to seek ways to better the nation, the legislators are rather seeking ways to further enrich themselves.
Condemning the 25 per cent reduction in the basic salary of the executive, Soyinka said such action is an insult on Nigerians when in the real sense what they get by the corner is seven times more that what their legitimate income is.
Also speaking at the event, the convener of the SNG and Senior Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, who spoke on “Understanding how power works,” noted that the power given to those in authority is like monies deposited in a bank account.
Bakare said the bank does not have control over the money but the depositor.
He, however, said that “until you realise that the money you deposited remains yours and you have power over it, then only can you take action to regain your deposit.”
While noting that he has nothing against the removal of subsidy, Bakare said he is only opposed to the procedure adopted, adding: “I am not against deregulation. We have seen the benefits of deregulation, especially in the telecoms sector. But there has to be a regulation to safeguard the poor.
“I believe there must be enough safety measures to protect the poor, because subsidy is only a way of helping to keep feeding the rich while the poor gets poorer.”
Some other activists at the event included Femi Falana, Yinka Odumakin, Jimi Agbaje, Babatunde Ogala, Joe Okei-Odumakin, Femi Kuti, Dede Mabioku and Monday Ubani.