Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Monday, warned that Nigerians should not allow themselves to be distracted from achieving a structure that expresses the true will of Nigerians.
Soyinka who spoke in Lagos during the programme to unveil the second batch of students departing Nigeria for Lebanon on Tuesday for the Study Abroad In Lebanon programme by The Cedars Institute, Lebanon, in collaboration with Wole Soyinka Foundation said Nigerians should be focused.
According to him, Nigeria was long overdue for reconfiguring.
He said no matter whatever name was given to efforts to return the country to the desired structure, the objective must be achieved.
Said he: “Like I said when I visited the Women Arise (For Change Initiative) the other day, it doesn’t matter by what name you call it. We all know what we are talking about. We all know that this nation was deconstructed and that what we live in right now as a nation is not along a structure that expresses the true will of Nigerians.
“So, when people use words like ‘restructuring, reconfiguring or call it reconfiguration, return to status quo, or call it reformulating the protocols of our association or used a single word like restructuring, it doesn’t matter. Everybody knows what we are talking about. That is number one.”
Soyinka also spoke in an obvious allusion to the opinion piece by the Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, last week where he said what many critics of the Buhari regime needed was restructuring of the mind.
The Nobel laureate said the piece was an attempt to divert attention from the major issue.
He said while it was necessary to carry out a restructuring of the mind, the exercise could not be a substitute for the need to restructure the country.
According to Soyinka, calling for a restructuring of the mind instead amounted to trivializing the need to make Nigeria the country with a true expression of the will of the people.
Sai he: “Also, there are those who try to divert the attention away from the main issue by mouthing platitudes, clichés like it is the mind that needs restructuring. You know those I am referring to.
“This is a constant process—restructuring the mind. It is both an individual exercise as well as a theological exercise. People go to church and mosque to have their minds restructured. They go to school and extramural classes to have their minds restructured. Restructuring the mind is not the issue.
“Nobody is saying that the exercise of restructuring the mind should not be undertaken; it should be undertaken. Anybody who indulges in self-examination is already engaging in an exercise of mental and attitudinal reconstruction. We know that. People shouldn’t try to substitute one for the other.
“I find it very dishonest and cheap time-serving, trivialising the issue when I hear expressions like ‘it is the mind that needs to be restructured.’ Who is arguing or denying that? Why bring it up? Why is it a substitute?
“We are talking about the protocols of association of the constitutive parts of a nation. We are talking of decentralisation. That is another word. This country is over-centralised.
“Are you saying we cannot reconstruct the mind and reconstruct the nation at the same time? Call it by whatever name. We are saying that this nation is long overdue for reconfiguring. That is the expression I choose to use now.’’
