Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has insisted that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed.
According to him, the problems confronting Nigeria were beyond Buhari.
Soyinka stated this while playing host to students who paid him a visit on his 85th birthday.
The literary icon made it clear that while state governments differ in success rates, “central government has failed”.
“The problems of this nation are beyond the solution that can be offered by this government, that’s the first admission; they have to stop thinking in partisan government.
“There has always been a major problem with successive governments. It’s easier on the state level to say that a particular state is definitely doing better than another state. But the central government has failed, that’s my view in the main.
“There is a minimal level which any government which has been elected to power must achieve to be considered a true representative of the people.
“Look at what’s happening today with the cattle all over the place, that’s a security issue which should never have reached this level. That singular act has resulted in hundreds of people being killed, farms were taken over; it has wiped away a lot of the positive achievements of the government.
“They need to confront this nation as a habitation of human beings where very serious issues like economy, security, health, even threats of secession come up every day and convoke at the same time, a national conference, what I call an Indaba across all section which we will all meet and debate everything, including the economy of this nation,” Soyinka said.
Meanwhile, the President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), His Eminence, Rev Dr Samson Supo Ayokunle has condemned the murder of Mrs Funke Olakunri, daughter of the leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in strong terms.
He called on the Buhari government to urgently step up the security system in the country with a view to stopping the unending killings.
A statement yesterday by his spokesman, Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, said killings in Nigeria had become too alarming.
“Is the government totally overwhelmed? What is the essence of government? Is it not first of all to protect lives and properties. The stories we are hearing are neither exaggerated nor politicised”, he noted.
“This killing is a big dent on the government of the day! Today, it is Mrs. Olakunri, no one knows who the next person could be! We are seriously concerned and are weeping for our beloved country Nigeria.
“Why have things become like this? The bad image these acts are giving us as a nation daily is totally shameful. Can’t the government act better for us?
“Once again, we call on the federal government to overhaul the security architecture of the country which appears to have collapsed.
“Nowhere is safe again due to the criminal activities of men of the underworld who are manifesting as terrorists, killer herdsmen, kidnappers, ritual killers, armed bandits, religious fundamentalists (Boko Haram) and armed robbers.
“People are being kidnapped with impunity and ransom is being paid to get their captives released. For how long will these things continue to go on?
“Our hearts go out to the chief mourner of this murderous act, Pa Reuben Fasoranti. There is no one who can comfort you but God, our Comforter and He will console and comfort you Sir on all sides.
“We call on the Police and other security agencies to wake up from their slumber and fish out those responsible for this crime and other killings in the country,” he said.
Similarly, the Christian Reformed Church-Nigeria has said the suspended RUGA project was aimed at grabbing lands belonging to sacked communities across the country for herdsmen to occupy.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the church’s 117th General Church Council meeting held at the CRC-N N01 Takum, in Taraba State.
The church, which condemned in strong terms the situation where the Federal Government watched herdsmen sack some communities only for them to come out with the contentious RUGA project, described the move as flagrant miscarriage of justice.
This is even as the church also condemned the rift between the Jukun and the Tiv in Wukari Local Government Area, and warned the youths on the consequences of continuous attacks and looting in the area.
On the menace of armed banditry, kidnapping and herdsmen invasion of communities to disposes them of their lands, the church called on the Taraba and Benue states’ governments to ensure security of lives and property of their citizens.
The communique also directed the Peace and Relief Committee of the church to come out with strategies to forestall and mitigate the negative impact of climate change, environmental hazards and other disaster that might befall the church.
Part of the communique read “On the threat of mental health, council expressed concern over the report that over 60 million Nigerians were mentally disoriented due to drugs and trauma from sundry social conditions.
“The church hereby directs the management of Veenstra Theological Seminary, Donga, to strengthen curricula to include Psychology, Guidance and Counselling, Peace and Conflict Studies to equip graduates with relevant skills to provide support to their host communities.”
While congratulating the President of CRC-N, Rev. Caleb Ahima on his recent election as the CAN National Vice President, the church called for prayers as the church prepares for the election of new officials.
Similarly, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo has requested that Nigeria summons an emergency national security conference to discuss ways out of the escalated insecurity in different parts of the country that has resulted in different manners of killings.
The apex Igbo body made the call as part of matters arising from the killing by suspected Fulani herdsmen of Mrs. Funke Olukunri; daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, on her way from Ekiti Etate to Lagos.
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr Nnia Nwodo on behalf of the Igbo nation offered Pa Fasoranti and the entire Yoruba their heartfelt sympathies on the mindless killing.
Nwodo flayed the continuous rampaging, plunder, rape, kidnapping and murder of innocent Nigerians by armed Fulani herdsmen, which he noted has climbed to a most worrisome crescendo.
He also said it was regrettable, the inability of Nigeria Security Forces to disarm and prosecute the criminals, stating that the attitude of the security agencies give credibility to a growing story of collusion.
In a statement issue by Ohanaeze, yesterday, Nwodo noted that recently, the British High Commission in an advisory to British citizens in Nigeria declared twenty four of our states unsafe.
He further regretted that in the midst of the killings, the parent organisation of the suspected criminals had the effrontery to give ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari, to rescind his unpopular suspension, instead of cancellation of the RUGA development policy.
“Such inciting, provocative and treasonable outbursts have only been greeted by an advice that they (the suspected criminal parent body) should respect the Presidency and an unrelenting resolve to force Nigerians to accommodate such murderers in their homes under a policy that violates our Constitution and all laws and court judgments relating to Land Use Act administration.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo warns that this latest murder is capable of throwing our country into uncontrollable break down of law and order. The hasty conclusion by the Federal Government that she (Mrs. Funke Olukunri) was killed by armed robbers and not the suspected herdsmen who are known to have laid siege on all parts of the country perpetrating acts of banditry and killings further exacerbates the already tense situation.
“We call on eminent leaders of this nation in spite of their political persuasion to come together in an urgent National Security Conference to discuss measures that will arrest the extant drift to lawlessness,” Nwodo said.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s immediate past deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and President-General of Pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr John Nnia Nwodo are among special guests expected to add colour to the second annual Igbo Cultural Festival in Germany.
The forthcoming 2019 Annual Igbo Cultural Festival and Convention in Germany, organised by Ndi-Igbo Germany (N.I.G), the apex body of all Igbos living and working in the Federal Republic of Germany scheduled to hold at Löwensaal am Tier Garten, Schmausenbruck Str. 166, 90480 Nürnberg, Germany on August 17, is primarily aimed to reawaken the Igbo spirit in the 21st century which will also have the blessings of the Nigeria Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar as the chief host.
In a release to this effect, the organisers stated; “This gathering will provide a forum for Ndi-Igbo Diasporans and other stakeholders to network and consult on issues of economic importance and enable an atmosphere of better, broader cooperation between the German-Nigerian business communities with the aim of boosting investors’ interest and facilitating pragmatic exchange of expertise and transfer of technology to Nigeria.
“The event is part of our initiatives to expedite the integration of Nigerians in Germany into national development, by synchronising the activities of our Diaspora groups with home-based organisations”, the NIG Coordinator, Oge Ozofor, and the Event Committee Chairman and NIG Deputy Coordinator, Joe-Blaise Nnaemeka Akanazu, said on behalf of NIG.
“It is also an opportunity to demonstrate our unity, showcase the richness of our culture, our resilient and adaptable spirit, our unanimity in identifying with the high standard of our forebears and heroes of past,” the organisers added.
The statement said Ndi-Igbo Germany (N.I.G) would also use the opportunity to host and honour distinguished sons and daughters of Nigeria who, in spite of all odds, have distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavour.
Also expected at the event are the Nigerian Consul-General in Frankfurt, Suleiman Dauda Umar; wife of the late Gburugburu Ndi Igbo and IkembaNnewi, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Bianca Ojukwu; CEO of Innoson Group of Companies, Innocent Chukwuma; and Eze Akajiofo Igbo, Eze Chukwuemeka Eri.
Others are former governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Prof Mazi Ojiaku, former Nigerian IGP, Mike Okiro; Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo; former Nigerian Consul-General in Frankfurt, John C. Ejinaka; governors of the five South-Eastern states, among others.