Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has come down hard on the federal government over what he described as its accommodating policy and desperation for re-election which has found it on the same bed with strange fellows, compounding the nation’s security situation, and putting honour to dirt. In a statement released in Lagos yesterday, entitled “the wages of impunity”, Soyinka stringently criticized the government’s handling of the nation’s security problems, specifically identifying the parodying of the \\Bringback our girls campaign, Dr Stephen Davies’ revelations on sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgency, and the indiscreet presidential travel companionship of Ali Modu Sheriff to Chad, all of which, in his view, combined to cast a slur on the dithering image of the government. He warned that Davies’s position on sponsorship of the Boko Haram Islamist sect must not be taken with a pinch of salt as it corroborated earlier discoveries and indices on the spiraling complex security situation. Indeed, he revealed that President Jonathan had long been put in the know of the situation, including that of the Central Bank official implicated in the funding. He wrote: “As I revealed in earlier statements, I have interacted with the late National Security Adviser, Gen Azazi, on occasion- among others. I am therefore compelled to warn that anything that Stephen Davies claims to have uncovered cannot be dismissed out of hand. It cannot be wished away by foul mouthed abuse and cheap attempts to impugn his integrity-, that is an absolute waste of time and efforts. Of the complicity of ex-governor Sheriff, in the parturition of Boko Haram, I have no doubt whatsoever, and I believe that the evidence is overwhelming. Femi Falana can safely assume that he has my full backing- and that of a number of civic organizations- if he is compelled to go ahead and invoke legal recourses available to him to force Sheriff’s prosecution. “The evidence in possession of security agencies- plus a number of diplomats in Nigeria is overwhelming and all that is left is to let the man face criminal prosecution. It is certain he will also take many others down with him. He continued: “Regarding General Ihejirika, I have my own theories regarding how he may have come under Stephen Davies searchlight in the first place, ending up on his list of the inculpated. All I shall propose at this stage is that an international panel be set up to examine all allegations, irrespective of status or office of any accused. “Finally, Stephen Davies also mentioned a Boko Haram financier within the Nigerian Central Bank. Independently, we are able to give backing to that claim, even to the extent of naming the individual. In the process of our enquiries, we solicited the help of a foreign embassy whose government we learnt was actually on the same trail, thanks to its independent investigations into some money laundering that involved the Central Bank. That name, we confidently learnt has also been passed on to president Jonathan. When he is ready to abandon his accommodating policy towards the implicated, even the criminalized, an attitude that owes so much to re-election desperation, when he moves from a passive “letting the law to take its course” to galvanizing the law to take its course, we shall gladly supply that name.” Soyinka further expressed relief that after much pussy-footing, Jonathan finally furled the banner: BRING BACK JONATHAN 2015 that had generated outrage nationwide by its desecration of the struggle to free the Chibok girls, held hostage by the Boko Haram sect. Still driving the nail of the pervading culture of impunity deeper, he raised some pertinent questions on the explanations given on the closeness of Senator Sheriff, to the government, especially his recent presence in the Chadian seat of government, while the two presidents held court. He explained that the meeting smacked of obscenity, and a coarseness of all sensibilities. Alleging overwhelming evidence in Sheriff’s culpability in the sponsorship of Boko Haram, he said the government did not need to go far to unmask other sponsors, promising to assist in any way possible to support all those desirous of launching criminal prosecution against them.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 16:18:12 +0000
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