NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has likened Nigerian soldiers to the dreaded Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
The literary icon, speaking on Saturday night at the grand finale of Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, described as shocking, the alleged burning on Friday last week of some BRT buses on Ikorodu road, Lagos, by protesting soldiers.
Soyinka called on President Goodluck Jonathan to take up the matter.
“I demand the Commander-in-Chief to do something about it; example must be set. This is not the first time. We have had enough,” he said.
He further wondered why those soldiers considered their lives more special than those of the citizens, particularly in a country where people have continued to die through senseless acts of terror.
Describing the soldiers’ attack on innocent people as madness, Soyinka added that “Ola Rotimi wrote a play and called it ‘Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again.’ In this case, I will say our soldiers have gone mad again.”
Akin Bello wins Soyinka prize
SIXTY-FIVE-year-old Akin Bello, on Saturday, won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.
The playwright, who won with his play, ‘Egbon of Lagos,’ defeated two other shortlisted playwrights Toyin Abiodun and Othuke Ominiabohs.
The Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, who handed out the grand prize of $20,000 to the winner, commended the organisers, Lumina Foundation and many supporters of the project, particularly Globacom, this year’s major sponsor.
The occasion was a gathering of writers, politicians, academics, artistes, students and captains of industry.
Bello was educated at Oyo, Ghana and the University of Ife. A holder of BSc in Political Science, he lives in Ibadan, where he runs a non-government organisation. He was chairman of Oyo State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), from 2008 to 2012. He has published three novels and a poetry collection. Egbon of Lagos is his first play.
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