Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has expressed his anger over discussions about President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in 2019.
He stated this while speaking with reporters after a press briefing, to unveil the second batch of students departing Nigeria for Lebanon on Tuesday to study in Lebanon, a programme by The Cedars Institute, Lebanon, in collaboration with The Wole Soyinka Foundation.
Soyinka was reacting to calls from some Governors and Ministers recently, declaring support for Buhari’s re-election.
He said the present administration had barely reached half of its term and people were already talking about re-election.
“Why are we talking about second term for heaven’s sake? I don’t understand this. I refuse to be part of that discussion. I absolutely refuse to be part of the discussion,” Soyinka stated.
On the President’s performance so far, Soyink made reference to security and the economy.
He said: “Take simple security for instance. The average citizen feels less secure now than he did a few years ago; that is evident. When people talk about state police, there are reasons for it. When they talk about bringing policing right down to the community level, they know what they are talking about. This is also part and parcel of reconstruction or reconfiguration.
“The economy, there is a big question about it right now. Fortunately, everybody admits that we went through a very bad patch. Right now, it is a question of have we come out of it or not or there is no question at all.
“The past few years have been years of real internal economic disaster for the average citizen.’’
