Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has said former President Goodluck
Jonathan was caged by some powerful forces while in power and therefore
was not aware of some of things going on around him.
In a damning assessment of Mr. Jonathan’s tenure, Mr. Soyinka said
the former president, who left office in May following his defeat by the
incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, in the March 28 presidential
poll, did not know that the nation had been compromised so badly under
him until he (Soyinka) brought some issues to his notice.
Mr. Soyinka, a professor, spoke in an interview with the current
edition Zero Tolerance magazine, a publication of Nigeria’s Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission.
“Correct,” he affirmed when asked if the former president was caged.
“There were forces around Jonathan, which he himself did not understand
and that is why I stressed that you’ve got to choose your circles of
advisers very carefully, when you are in charge. He was caged; things
were going on that he did not know about.”
Mr. Soyinka, who said he visited Mr. Jonathan twice just before he
vacated office, said on one occasion he asked the former president what
he was doing to curtail his wife, Patience, who during the presidential
campaign was indulging in hate speech. He refused to disclose his
(Jonathan) response.
According to him, “On a lighter note, I asked him, ‘what are you
doing about madam’ because that one seems to be embarrassing the nation
as usual because that seems to be her function as so called first lady.
You go to a section of the country and tell your supporters to stone
those who campaign for change and you insult another part of the nation
by calling them those who produce children that they cannot look after.
That woman should be charge for incitement chaos. It is incredible that
she is allowed to run loose.”
Asked what Mr. Jonathan’s reply was, the Nobel Laureate said, “I am
not going to tell his response (laughs….) But I am free to tell you what
I said. It will be an abuse of privilege if I tell you his response.”
Buttressing his clam that Mr. Jonathan was oblivious of some
happenings around him while in office, Mr. Soyinka recalled the
telephone saga with the king of Morocco, stating that he was the one
that told the president about it when they met.
He said, “I will tell you one interesting aspect of what we
discussed. I will reveal to you that Jonathan did not know that the
nation had been compromised so badly in this telephone thing with the
King of Morocco. I was the one who told him when we met over an issue
and I said to him, ‘by the way, how is the king of Morocco? Jonathan
didn’t know what I was talking about.
“When I mentioned the telephone issue, he thought I was talking about
is campaign for AfDB managing director for which he was lobbying other
heads of states. He said ‘I haven’t spoken to him in a long time’, and I
said, ‘no, you spoke to him a few days ago.’ He said, ‘no, I intend to
speak with him. I even asked my foreign ministry to link me up with him
because I am campaigning for a candidate but I haven’t spoken to the
king of Morocco.’ Then I said to him, ‘you better go and read the
newspapers of last week.’ And I can tell you he did not know.”
Continuing, Mr. Soyinka lamented, “So you can imagine that the
president did not know that a scandal had developed that involved a
withdrawal of an ambassador!
“And again, I am revealing this to you since this interview won’t be
published till after the elections because I wouldn’t want to be seen as
campaigning for or against any one side. It shows how in deep trouble
governance can be; governance can dig itself into a huge hole and not
even know it’s in there. The statement that was issued was issued the
night when I met him.”
Mr. Soyinka came down hard on Mr. Jonathan when asked about the
criticisms that trailed his administration that it was not fighting
corruption.
“This is what we are talking about. How can a public figure, an
intelligent person like that come out to tell the public that corruption
is not stealing,” Mr. Soyinka said. As president, you’ve got to show
some example …Why should a president involve himself in what is already
structurally established and dedicated to that purpose?”
Mr. Soyinka also said he maintained a cordial relationship with Mr.
Jonathan during his tenure despite some attacks he felt compelled to
launch on the former Nigerian leader and his wife.
According to him, at some point, Mr. Jonathan who ruled the country
between 2010 and 2015 was tending towards fascism.“No. It was never
anything personal,” when asked why he withdrew his support from the
former president. “We marched in order to protect the constitution, not
the person of Jonathan. We retained a cordial relationship during his
tenure. However despite some attacks I felt compelled to launch on him –
and his wife. Jonathan committed some truly alarming errors of
governance. He was propelling himself towards outright fascism.”
Read full interview below. We got Zero Tolerance’s permission to republish here.
My Take On Corruption – Soyinka
Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Prize winner for
literature and frontline crusader for social justice is the
quintessential academic with a reputation for candour. The octogenarian,
who is venerated for his accomplishment in the literary world and a
life of activism, is equally famous for a rebellious streak that is
founded on abhorrence for injustice. In this rare encounter with ZT Team
ofWILSON UWUJAREN, SAMIN AMADIN, DELE OYEWALE, TONY ORILADE, THERESA
NWOSU, MONDAY EMONI, AUGUSTINE OMONKHEGBELE and IDRIS ISIYAKU at his
office in Lagos three days before the March 28, 2015 presidential
election, Soyinka bared his mind on issues of anti-corruption,
especially President Jonathan’s anti-corruption posture and political
developments in the country.
Excerpts:
ZT: You have been speaking lately and it appears you are worried about the state of affairs in the country.
Soyinka: Nigeria is so peculiar and dramatic. Even talking about the
potentials before we talk about the negativities, Nigeria is a nation
for perpetual study. I think in Nigeria, it is the potential which hits
people and makes them believe in Nigeria. It tends to make them react
when they see potentials being wasted and it is a tragedy to see
potentials wasted. But paradoxically, it is a realization of the
existence, that positive, that keeps many Nigerians and even foreign
people going.
ZT: You talked about the potentials of the country but we have not
been able to translate this potential to reality in terms of
development. Why is this so?
Soyinka: It is the human potentials that interest me. I travel and
everywhere I go I am amazed at the presence of Nigerians. The
intelligence, integrity, productivity, initiative, you name it. So what
is the problem? I think we got it wrong from independence as people
became so conscious of the divisions because we wanted so much to
satisfy the plurality of interests. I will say, we neglected the
importance of real value, human value and the quality of potential in
human beings and we contrived phrases like geographical spread, regional
quota, etc and allowed mediocrity to reign. I think that is the problem
that we are dealing with till today.
ZT: How do we overcome this problem of mediocrity?
Soyinka: We must acknowledge that we made a huge error in satisfying
the lowest common denominator of the available human potential in this
country and we elevated what I call the reign of mediocrity. Quite
frankly, I think it is about repudiating the past, creating space for
new thinking for the best of the new generation, creating both political
and geographical space and going at it with single mindedness that
says, ‘enough of buttering, sentiments and massaging the ego of the old
brigade’.
It is what I sought to do for instance, when I tried to create a new
political party, which I stressed to them that this is not my party. I
believe very much that there has to be a revolution and this is a party
for the young. I said it is a zero kobo party and you people have to
learn in your campaigning how to use the bicycles again and if you are
in areas where there are donkeys, you have to campaign on donkey backs
from door-to-door and stop waiting to be financed by the old brigade
because you will have to do their bidding. Instead, go to the young,
appeal to the young. Make a small beginning, even if it is a local
government, see what can be done with a new brigade, seize some space
and create room for emulation from other people. Don’t keep waiting for
the ‘money bags’ so you can spread all over the country.
ZT: Did that message settle well with the youths?
Soyinka: It did not settle well with them. I was shocked. First of
all, they had not got over the notion that when you start a political
party, you are creating space for yourself. So many of them were shocked
when they realized that I was serious and had no interest in occupying
any political position, so they started to fall out one by one. I said
to them, this is your space, this is for you. I have no money to give to
you but I have ideas and organizational capacity, but you are going to
do the donkey work, the leg work. Once it is exhausted, you are on your
own.
ZT: To what extent did you try to drive this vision?
Soyinka: Of course to the best of my capacity, we held several
meetings here in my office, I showed them directions and we had meetings
in Abuja. Once, I refused to go to Owerri when I discovered that the
slogan they were using was ‘Wole Soyinka, Wole Soyinka, Wole Soyinka’ I
said I was not coming because this is not about Wole Soyinka.
I remember someone once came proudly from the North to show me a
poster. He was contesting and his picture was on the poster and there
was my picture on the poster too. I asked them, ‘don’t you get the
message, why make this useless poster?’ And I said ‘am sorry, but this
has to be destroyed and I did’.
I must confess I could not win them from the notion that a political
party has to be about a single individual. Maybe the next members will
get it right because the party is not entirely dead. That INEC does not
recognize a party does not mean the party does not exist. INEC has its
own rules, we were recognized and deregistered. I said to them, ‘shut
yourselves down and turn yourselves into a movement, until you are
re-registered’.
ZT: Do you see the party being revived again?
Soyinka: Of course. My advice to them now is to team up with some of
the new parties like KOWA Party that is led by that lady (Remi Sonaiya).
They came to see me here and I was impressed by the lady. The youth
should come together to challenge the status quo. They must not give up.
ZT: What strikes you about the KOWA Party?
Soyinka: I only met the party leaders and I have seen pieces of their
manifesto and I was impressed by the youthfulness of the party and its
candidate and the tendency of a total new approach to politics.
ZT: To achieve any change in the minds of the youth, there must be
reorientation in terms of materialistic tendencies, corruption and crime
generally. How can we achieve this?
Soyinka: I agree with you. The battle is the mind and to achieve this
mind change, the media has crucial role to play. The media must be used
effectively to reach the masses. You have to find a new language in
which to address the people and demonstrate what is possible. You see,
concreteness impresses people more than all the grammar of Wole Soyinka.
There is a governor that says he goes out to eat amala with his people
and what he did was to create ‘stomach infrastructure’, that kind of
blasphemous message.
You go to the ‘bukar’ and engage people in languages different from
the one I am using with you now, get down to their basics and get your
hands dirty with work among the people. This is something I realize is a
full time job.
ZT: But cyber crime, bank fraud and many others are today perpetrated by the youths, how can we tackle the situation?
Soyinka: First and foremost, we must catch them young. I remember
late Tai Solarin used to use this expression ‘I’ll die for the youths,
I’ll die for the youths’ and once, I called him, ‘egbon’ (my older
brother) stop saying that. Some of these people you want to die for are
the ones that will stab you in the back so don’t use that expression
because you and I know that they are not angels. Most of them are
rapists, cultist and I use that expression as opposed to a confraternity
which is confused in the mind in my experience which is very sad.
The obstacles to this transformation in youths are ignoramus. We just
had a festival here and the theme was ‘Corruption’. School children
were handpicked to know how they see the issue of corruption, why do we
keep crying that the adult society is corrupt, what is it that you see?
Many schools were involved and ICPC wanted to take the results and maybe
you (EFCC) can take that over if they are not fast enough because this
project has been over a year now. We have their response and all those
paintings of how the children see us.
Exercises like that involving the children put to shame the adults by
depicting what corruption does to them. So it’s a matter of catching
them young and that way we transform the next level of humanity who in
turn exercises an influence on adults, aunties, and parents etc. Because
that top stratum is almost finished.
Look at this election for instance, the current election (2015); have
you ever seen such an expensive contest? Where is all the money coming
from? Look, this country is awash with naira and dollars on a level we
have not seen since Obasanjo made his third term attempt. But this has
beggared even the corrupt spending which took place over that exercise.
This election, I have never known anything like this in any other
country.
ZT: Was that why it was reported in the media recently that you ‘bombed’ President Jonathan?
Soyinka: Ahh! Am not Boko Haram oh (laughter). I have been speaking
with President Jonathan not only publicly, but privately. There are
policies that are avoidable. When it comes to the issue of corruption,
Jonathan surrounds himself with certain unsavoury characters and that is
something you don’t have to do if you are in charge. You are in a
position to select those who are seen with you so that the populace can
look up to them.
And I can say this because by the time this interview comes out, the
elections would have been over and nobody will charge me with
campaigning for or against somebody. Quite frankly. I saw him as
recently as two weeks ago; because there are still certain things to be
resolved, whether he returns to office or not, time exists to be
exploited no matter the circumstances and no matter what is taking place
during that period. So leadership of course has a primary
responsibility but followership is very critical and you mentioned it
before, why do you prefer to go this way rather than that way? People
prefer not to carve a totally different path for themselves and it is
relative to all of us.
ZT: Critics of the Jonathan administration rate him low in fighting corruption, what is your view?
Soyinka: As a president, you’ve got to show some example. I am
disturbed for instance when I read that a candidate said, ‘I will not
probe anybody or something like that’. You don’t fight corruption by
sweeping everything under the carpet, you don’t. You just say, am going
to allow the law take its course; I am going to empower the agencies
which has been set up for such specific purpose of stemming the corrupt
out flow of resources from this nation and don’t even talk to me about
corruption beyond saying you going to strengthen existing institutions.
That is what we want to hear, don’t make any promises.
ZT: Why should a president involve himself in what is already structurally established and dedicated to that purpose?
Soyinka: I warned your former boss, I told him that, your task will
be done when in the course of your investigation, you discover that the
source of the problem is the very person who appointed you. He looked
shocked a bit, and eventually Ribadu and I met in London, after he was
removed and El-Rufai was also in exile after they tried to kill him. We
met and Ribadu refused to sit down. I asked him to sit but he said no,
that until I accepted his apology, he won’t sit down. I asked what
apology? And he said, “i should have listened to you, I failed to listen
to you. Something you said to me, and I failed to listen” Ribadu
admitted that he realized very late that Obasanjo was using him.
So we have to destroy that link between power and corruption. Audu
Ogbe confirmed what i am telling you. Then it was ‘go after this one, go
after that one, ahh you did not arrest him? Arrest his mother!’ I am
challenging Obasanjo to deny it.
So when you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire
stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct,
others are indirect. For others, corruption sometimes is encouraged by
careless statements. This is a hydra-headed problem which is why I had
to invent a monster to answer the name of corruption and I ended up with
‘HYDROPUS’ which means a hydra-headed monster plus octopus (laughter). I
needed something that will convey to people what corruption is, what it
does, its antecedents, its ability to camouflage, to vanish and
resuscitate somewhere else, which is why i used school children to give
me an image of corruption.
ZT: There seems to be some confusion on what corruption entails, some
people argue that corruption is not stealing, what is it to you?
Soyinka: This is what we are talking about, how can a public figure,
an intelligent person like that come out to tell the public that
corruption is not stealing. Then you should have asked him, what then is
corruption? The media should have challenged him.
ZT: Election is here, and between the devil and the deep blue sea (PDP and the APC), where will you turn?
Soyinka: This is a very tough one. Maybe, we should have even
intervened in this political process at the stage when they are
selecting their candidates to say if you go in this direction, we won’t
take you. Maybe that is what we should have done. Buhari on one hand,
has a very dark past which some of us find very difficult to obliterate,
while Jonathan on the other hand, has been dismal, allowing himself to
be surrounded by questionable people like Fayose. Do you have to appoint
somebody like Femi Fani Kayode as Director of media in charge of
presidential campaign? Someone on trial for stealing and conspiracy to
steal? Is this what you understand by democracy?
ZT: Can a man under prosecution for corruption be qualified for a ministerial appointment?
Soyinka: Do you need somebody like that? What about somebody like
Gbenga Daniel who closed down a legislature for almost a year? When I
heard this, I called Jonathan, I asked him, ‘is this your understanding
of democracy”. A governor closes down an assembly with the aid of the
police and the place is under lock with ‘Mopol’ guarding it. When
Jonathan selected this person as his campaign manager in Abuja, I
telephoned him; I said does this support democracy that you choose this
person. It is not a question of this person is a governor therefore come
to my party, I can work with him. No, when a president picks somebody
for a particular duty it means you are pointing that person out as an
aspect of government so you see, it is impossible for me to pick
Jonathan as a candidate.
in fact, Jonathan’s campaign manager is the greatest asset that
Buhari could have hoped for. All the opposition needs to do is look at
his spokesman, is that the kind of person he should have?Look, Buhari is
a very lucky man. Between the two, the one whom I think has paid some
debt to the community would be Buhari because I think he has accepted
the fact that he made mistakes. He hasn’t brought himself round to
apologise, if he had done that, I might have been less ambiguous about
him. But I think from my findings about him, I think he is a born again
phenomenon. If am wrong, well, too bad. Though I don’t believe in
‘born-againism’ but I think this may be an exception.
ZT: Would you say that corruption in Nigeria is a reflection of the society?
Soyinka: I don’t know what is happening to the society, but I can
tell you this much: when I was a child, for a public/civil servant to be
caught in corrupt practices, that individual will be a pariah. He will
be a complete reject of the society; he/she could not raise his or her
voice to speak in the public. What you are asking is what happened to
society? So what happened between that time and now? That time when a
public officer, prison or customs officer caught in corruption hides his
face in shame amongst his peers, he just couldn’t come out publicly.
For instance, I remember one or two cases when somebody couldn’t come to
our house the way he used to, he just disappeared. Today, when they
come back, they get chieftaincy titles, they are received in grand
style, cows are killed, they ride on white horses. You have a former
president who welcomes political thugs, like Obasanjo who welcomed the
late Adedibu who rode into his Otta farm on horseback with Kakaki and
Obasanjo even named Adedibu his political mentor. A former president of
this nation, called the late Adedibu his political mentor! Society is
finished!
ZT: So, how did we get here?
Soyinka: You tell me? I do not know. I do not know what has happened.
People say human nature is a very vague expression, people tend to say
human nature is corruptible anyway and it comes from a theological point
of view, goes back to the Garden of Eden, that there is always this
corrupt gene waiting to be activated that we inherited from the very
beginning. I don’t believe in that theological excuse but I know that
the sudden oil wealth, easy access to wealth fuelled the process, it
definitely accentuated the process, it made corruption easy because if
you are corrupt and you have extra cash you are able to shut the mouth
of your accuser and they will be silenced.
ZT: Let me take you back to the issue of Ribadu which you raised
earlier. There was a time when we interviewed former President Obasanjo
and he told us that Ribadu investigated him and cleared him of all
corruption charges. I don’t know if it tallies with what you have just
told us?
I am not going to speak on this; but one thing I like, when I speak, I
don’t dwell on rumours but at the same time I form opinion within the
limits of the investigation which I make, that’s how far I go. I am a
very curious person; I’ll always ask: is this thing true, is it not
true? And I use my own means to investigate and come to my conclusion.
Anybody can say I have been investigated, I have been investigated,
it’s okay, some people are lucky and others not so lucky. So let’s leave
it at that.
ZT: When you said Ribadu told you that he will not sit until you
forgave him of something you told him, did he tell you exactly what?
Soyinka: Of course he did, that was one of the longest discussions I
had in a long time. We were there for almost four hours and we spoke for
at least two and a half hours. I asked him a couple of questions and he
told me certain things in confidence and there were things which
corroborated the things I have heard from different directions on
investigations which I myself had made.
But the important thing is that he came around to see that my
indication to him is that you had to get to the source of corruption
which grows when it is tolerated, what we call the culture of impunity.
When a leader encourages the culture of impunity, the society is lost
and it makes the work harder for the rest of us. As I said in Tunis in a
conference on this very subject, when you fight corruption, corruption
strikes back and that is the truth because when you fight corruption,
you get confidence and when it gets to impunity, then it gets aggressive
and says, ‘oh, so you think you are different? You think you are tough
and different?’ This is why some of us are almost permanently in the
libel court. I just had a case recently that has been in court for over
ten years now, that’s a long time, a case of libel, especially when the
libel is committed by those whom you exposed, because they think that by
libeling you, after a while you get tired and get off their back which
of course I refused to do. And this case has been transferred from one
judge to the other, did I say ten years? Fifteen years, just before
Justice Oke, in fact it was resumed by somebody else who picked up the
dirty gauntlet and libeled me again on this very issue, and until even
Abacha’s son had the nerve to use that statement, and libeling me on the
internet, I didn’t waste my time because I think the next day, the
United States returned another huge sum of Nigeria’s stolen money from
the Abachas coffers. But the thing is that it is not fair to those who
fight corruption that they have to fight the aggressiveness, the
impunity of the corrupt so maybe you (EFCC) should have a department
which caters for the interest of those who are victims of aggression of
corruption. I think it’s about time, otherwise, people will get tired
and wouldn’t want to serve or appear in the public because of this
aggressive, corrupt cabal which take up their own guns and who
manipulates society and opinion of the society. So that is an idea for
you, innovation.
ZT: Can you share with us some of the things you told Jonathan on the two occasions you met with him?
Soyinka: Oh its more than two occasions, but two in recent times. I
will tell you one interesting aspect of what we discussed. I will reveal
to you that Jonathan did not know that the nation had been compromised
so badly in this telephone thing with the King of Morocco. I was the one
who told him when we met over an issue and I said to him, ‘by the way,
how is the king of Morocco? Jonathan didn’t know what I was talking
about’. When I mentioned the telephone issue, he thought I was talking
about his campaign for the ADB managing director for which he was
lobbying other Head of States. He said ‘I haven’t spoken to him in a
long time’, and I said ‘no, you spoke to him a few days ago.’ He said
‘no, I intend to speak with him, I even asked my foreign ministry to
link me up with him because I am campaigning for a candidate but I
haven’t spoken to the king of Morocco’. Then I said to him, ‘you better
go and read the newspapers of last week’. And I can tell you, he didn’t
know.
So can you imagine that the president did not know that a scandal had
developed that involved a withdrawal of an ambassador! And again, I am
revealing this to you since this interview won’t be published till after
the elections because I wouldn’t want to be seen as campaigning for or
against one side.
It shows how in deep trouble governance can be; governance can dig
itself into a huge hole and not even know it’s in there. The statement
that was issued was issued the night when I met him.
ZT: So are you saying Jonathan was caged?
Soyinka: Correct. There are forces around Jonathan, you put your
fingers around it, which he himself does not understand and that is why I
stressed that, you’ve got to choose your circle of advisers very
carefully, when you are in charge. He’s been caged; things are going on
in his ministry that he did not know about.
On a lighter note, I
asked him, ‘what are you doing about madam’, because that one seems to
be embarrassing the nation as usual because that seems to be her
function as so called first lady. You go to a section of the country and
tell your supporters to stone those who campaign for change and you
insult another part of the nation by calling them those who produce
children that they cannot look after. That woman should be charged for
incitement, chaos; it’s incredible that she is allowed to run loose.
ZT: What was his reply?
Soyinka: I am not going to tell his response (laughs…..). But I am
free to tell you what I said, it will be an abuse of privilege if I tell
you his response.
ZT: Your are widely considered as the godfather of cultism in Nigeria
because of your role as co-founder of Pyrates Confraternity in your
days a student of the University College, Ibadan…
Soyinka: (Cuts in) Because those who say that are willfully ignorant.
Everybody knows that fraternities are a normal culture in all colleges.
It exists in all colleges. President Clinton was a member of a
fraternity. In fact, anybody who goes to College in the United States is
a member of a College fraternity. There is absolutely nothing evil or
occultic about fraternity.
But here , the media is largely responsible for fuelling the
ignorance of society of the word cultism and fraternity. This is a
disservice and I have said it again and again. There are evil cults,
whose members must prove themselves by going to rape. There are others
whose entry test is to slash or beat somebody or rob, it has nothing to
do with College fraternity. The media owes the responsibility to
constantly tell the public the truth. But they go on and children grow
up believing that college fraternity is Satanic, demonic, and this is
wrong.
I was on the Disciplinary Committee in University of Ife. It will
surprise you to know the number of students who we recommended for
expulsion as a result of cult activities; despite the spineless attitude
of some members on the committee who would beg for clemency for
children of the elite. If you know the people that were involved,
Commissioners of Police were involved, always writing letters. Imagine, a
student just gang raped a girl because he is a member of a cult and you
ask me to review that violation! These are letters which I received
from the elites of the society because their wards were involved in
occultic activities. I said this is not fraternity, this is criminal and
normally such cases should be charged before the court. But while I am a
member of this College, this type of character does not belong here and
must be expelled.
Society itself is responsible for the degradation where it takes
place from fraternity into cultism but the distinction must be made. The
Buccaneers call themselves a fraternity; they originated from the
original Pyrates Confraternity. They were thrown out for misbehaving and
destroying the efforts of the fraternity. Black Axe, these are cults,
the leaders know, they won’t deny it.
What we formed in my University days was anti-corruption and
justice-seeking student organization, not a cult group as many ignorant
Nigerians want to make believe. I am still a member of Pyrates
confraternity and anyone who wants to accuse me of cultism is making a
big mistake and incidentally, there have been cases where the Court
declared the Pyrates confraternity as non occultic or secret society.
The judgments are there and yet the public is still ignorant of the
clear difference. It is when they are fighting Wole Soyinka that is when
they say Wole Soyinka is the father of cultism, their father is the
founder of cultism (laughter).
ZT: How would you describe your only experience in government as Chairman of the Federal Road Safety Commission?
Soyinka: First, let’s situate my involvement, so you can understand
why I never considered myself ‘in government’. The Corps was my very own
idea. I invented the Road Safety Corps in the Old Oyo State days, while
I was teaching at the former University of Ife. I was tired of picking
up bodies on the Ife-Ibadan highway – which I dubbed the Ife-Ibadan
Slaughter Slab. I got sick of scooping up the brains of my students from
the tarmac after supposedly stuffing them with knowledge. I became a
regular feature in the UCH emergency section where I routinely deposited
the mangled. Nigerian road users’ stupidity, their irresponsibility
enraged me on every trip etc. etc. – not to mention the superfluous
presence of the police. They hadn’t the slightest interest in road
sanity, only checking ‘partik’lars’ and collecting private tolls. So,
call it an act of self-interest if you like, trying to save myself from
high-blood pressure or even potential homicide – because, sometimes, I
wanted to KILL some drivers! Well, one Sunday, after a particularly
stressful trip, I locked myself in my university office and fleshed out
the idea of a civilian volunteer ‘brigade’, backed by a handful of
uniformed corps. I sent it to the then governor, General David
Jemibewon…..and that was how it all began.
Later the politicians chased the Corps from the Federal Roads, using
an antiquated colonial law. It was an inhuman act, since the Corps had
recorded such remarkable success. Of course the death statistics rose
astronomically, and we were invited to turn this state initiative into a
federal one – under a military government. They were losing their
finest officers on Nigerian roads, not on the battlefield, so they sent
Bolaji Akinyemi to me as emissary. Some other states had emulated Oyo –
they all came to Oyo for training, so the nationwide expansion was not
too difficult.
Now this will interest you. With the brief mention I have already
made of police malfunction, even before the Corps was formally
inaugurated, I set up a secret Monitoring Unit, all volunteers. That was
how we weeded out the misfits so early, and earned a reputation for the
cleanest agency in all of Nigeria. The road users learnt that they were
in trouble if they offered a bribe. We even banned pleading, begging,
including that nauseating habit of drivers and their passengers
prostrating themselves on the road for leniency. I loathed that abject,
self-abasing culture. I still do. The Road Safety Corps was justly
feared. That reputation endured until Obasanjo came into power, merged
the Corps with the police – for reasons best known to him. A few years
later the National Assembly forced him to rescind that decision but of
course by then, the damage was already done. My ‘incorruptible’ had
imbibed the culture of wetin you carry?
ZT: After the Road Safety experience, you have not taken up any appointment in government. Why is this so?
Soyinka: Only if an aggressive policy of protection is guaranteed for
those who undertake such risk-laden assignments. And by aggressive I
mean, criminal prosecution against those who attempt to smear the
reputation of anti-corruption leaders and impugn their integrity. I told
you about the success of the Monitoring squad in eliminating
corruption. Well, it cost me dear. As I have often stressed, “Corruption
Fights Back”. It fights back desperately, dispensing calumny and
shoveling dirt with abandon. Corruption never gives up, it only lies in
wait. Each time I fought the government on any issue – you could
guarantee the timing – those slime merchants went to work! I sued, they
begged for mercy and I settled for published retractions. But they were
only re-grouping. They resumed their campaign, I sued again, and won.
Back they came again, under Sani Abacha, so back we went to the courts –
the last case was decided only a few months ago, and of course I was
awarded damages – that is, twenty something years afterwards.
When the criminals found that I couldn’t be moved, they attacked my
wife – then my daughter. That’s how unconscionable Corruption is. Each
filed suits against the trash purveyors and each time they were awarded
damages. It’s bad enough that I should expend my time and energy, why
should my family come into it? That sickens me. About time the state
took a hand – unless of course it believes that even agencies like yours
can handle corruption without civilian involvement!
ZT: With your constant criticism of government and your views on
purposeful leadership, shouldn’t you be seeking an elective office to
lead by example?
Soyinka: Thank goodness, that is now a purely academic question. At
eighty, I must be counted senile to attempt to stand for office.
ZT: Why are you not a member of any political party in Nigeria?
Soyinka: Temperament. In any case, I did try to set up a political
party – as a platform for a new generation. Ironically, it lost steam
when the members found I was dead serious about NOT contesting any
office. They came in mostly on personalized grounds, not on faith in a
carefully worked out manifesto. But the party still exists – at least as
a movement.
ZT: Some people say the reason you are not a card carrying member of
any political party is because you are a lone ranger who finds it
difficult to work in a collective. How true is this?
Soyinka: Far too sweeping a claim. Those with whom I’ve worked
politically etc. have come to acknowledge my capacity for team work. Ask
for voiced observations during the 2-year long PRONACO initiative.
However, there’s some truth in it. I tend to work best as a one-man Task
Force, including even the roles of messenger, coffee maker and office
cleaner.
ZT: How are you able to sustain friendship with politicians who are known to be corrupt?
Soyinka: “Known to be corrupt? ‘Known’ is a presumptive claim. When I
set up the Monitoring Unit for the Corps. I knew what I was doing. I
understood the nature of our society from which the Corps would be
drawn, so I took pre-emptive measures. Next to the commodities of
corruption, and religion, however, Nigeria is the world capital of
rumour mongering, so I wanted to nail offenders with no route for
escape. Now, am I supposed to do the same for all of Nigeria? You, the
EFCC, ICPC, the numerous anti-graft divisions of the police – you must
do your job. Identify, investigate and prosecute.
Now, I am going to come closer to specificities. I cannot pretend not
to know one or two names among my acquaintances who are presumed to
have a cloud of corruption over their heads. I shall not mention names,
since this would only contribute unfairly towards the promotion of such
allegations. What I can testify to is that one such prominent figure –
if we are thinking of the same businessman and politician – was a
front-line collaborator during the anti-Abacha struggle. After that
nightmare, when Obasanjo began to flout the constitution, humiliate the
courts, and generally prove his real nature in an attempt to reduce this
nation to yet another slave plantation, that individual earned further
spurs by standing firm. Your agency invited him for questioning, and he
later gave me his account of what transpired. If you do find a cause to
charge him with corruption, I expect him to be subjected to the same
legal processes as any other citizen. If found guilty, then he must take
his punishment and make public restitution. Until then, I can only
judge him on what I know to be true, and that is – an astute and dogged
political fighter and comrade-in-arms. Otherwise, how am I different
from those who defame my own person? What then separates me from
slanderous whelps like Sanni Abacha’s offspring – just to name one
notorious beneficiary of massive, internationally proven corruption –
who declares that I am no better than his father!
ZT: As a global citizen are you often embarrassed by Nigeria’s reputation for corruption?
Soyinka: As a global citizen, I sometimes feel like denying my identity.
ZT: Have you personally found yourself in a situation where you were
asked to offer bribe for a service? If yes, how did you deal with the
situation?
Soyinka: Certainly. Such people did not repeat their attempt. Sadly
however, I discovered in one particular case that a colleague went and
paid the bribe on my behalf, just to get our mission fulfilled. That was
painful, and it strained our friendship.
ZT: You were once supportive of President Jonathan. At what point did you decide to withdraw your support from the president?
Soyinka: No, it was never anything personal. We marched in order to
protect the constitution, not the person of Jonathan. We retained a
cordial relationship during his tenure however, despite some attacks I
felt compelled to launch on him – and his wife. Jonathan committed some
truly alarming errors of governance. He was propelling himself towards
outright fascism.
ZT: Some observers say you have a tendency to always find fault in others. How correct is this?
Soyinka: Why should that be surprising? Pity you can’t be present
during my periodic fault-finding sessions with my image in the mirror!
Yazidu Abdullahi and Auwal Tahir Aliyu
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