Soyinka to Buhari: Rule of Law outlasts its subverters

Nobel Leaureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has told President Muhammadu Buhari that the Rule of Law outlasts those that subverts it.

Soyinka said this in reaction to the position of President Buhari that the Rule of Law must be subject to the nation’s security and national interest.

Buhari, who spoke at the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Abuja, said: “Rule of Law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest.

“Our apex court has had cause to adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of judicial recognition that; where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society.”

Reacting via a statement titled: “Buhari’s Pernicious Doctrine,” Soyinka said it was good that the President had forewarned the country of his intention at a time something could be done to ward it off.

The statement reads in full:

Here we go again! At his first coming, it was “I intend to tamper with Freedom of the Press”, and Buhari did proceed to suit action to the words, sending two journalists – Irabor and Thompson – to prison as a reward for their professional integrity. Now, a vague, vaporous, but commodious concept dubbed “national interest” is being trotted out as alibi for flouting the decisions of the Nigerian judiciary. President Buhari has obviously given deep thought to his travails under a military dictatorship, and concluded that his incarceration was also in the “national interest”.

The timing is perfect, and we have cause to be thankful for the advance warning, since not all rulers actually make a declaration of intent, but simply proceed to degrade the authority of the law as part of the routine business of governance. We have been there before. It should be of mere interest, not despondency, that this latest proclamation of dictatorial recidivism has also been made before an assembly of officers of the law, the Nigerian Bar Association.  We expect a robust response from the NBA as part of its conclusions.

There is no short cut to democracy. The history of law, even where uncodified, is as old as humanity. Numerous rulers have tried again and again to annul that institution. Sometimes, they appear to succeed, but in the end, they pay heavy forfeit. So does society. The Rule of Law however outlasts all subverters, however seemingly powerful.  If the consequences for society in defence of the Rule of Law were not so costly, any new attempt would be merely banal and boring, hardly deserving of attention. We know, historically, where it will all end.