Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said that Nigerians have been too docile and submissive.
According to him, it is the reason the political class take them for a ride.
He noted this during that Association of Seadogs’ annual lecture held via Zoom.
Soyinka said every Nigerian should take responsibility for allowing impunity thrive in the country, adding that the country was paying for not being able to protest and denounce impunity in the country.
He said: “I would probably expect that from different perspectives in terms of timing, there might be disagreement I am absolute certain that we would agree that one of the major reasons for the dilemma we are undergoing in this country right now is that we permitted, we nurtured, we even encouraged either by actions or inactions, the mindset of impunity both in leadership and among the people.
“We ourselves are equally guilty. We ourselves allowed it. We watched it happened. We didn’t take to the streets to protest it, to denounce it, to warn of the consequences. Oh yes there were warnings here and there but they were not concerted and structured. So it is not too late to reverse the trend. But at least we must first begin a frank, honest and objective dialogue.”
Also, the keynote speaker, Prof Patrick Lumunba, said all Africans were guilty of docility.
“It is pertinent to ask why Nigeria which had such great promise continues to wallow in the lower rungs of human development. Why are Africans and Nigerians silent in the face of impunity? Why in the words of Wole Soyinka has the man in us died?”
He further said that people should hold themselves responsible for refusing to act and being part of the misfortune that has befallen the country, adding, “Despite the impunity by our public office holders, by some miracle, we are not enraged! It would also seem that we have lost the gift of disgust. Why is this so, who cursed us?
“We are the co-authors of our own misfortune because we have lost our values and now resort to religion. We now choose to apply faith instead of logic, elevating the principle of ‘Donothingnism’. We have created leaders who have arrogated themselves the monopoly of wisdom and the country is now run in a narrow and primordial fashion.”
