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| Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka |
NOBEL
laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged politicians to desist from
manipulating the judiciary to prevent a state of anarchy in the country.
Soyinka explained that though the
judiciary was making headway in reforms, there was still the need to
tackle some dark areas in the sector.
The literary giant, who spoke with
reporters on Monday in Port Harcourt, pointed out that such dark areas
had created the political crisis rocking the state.
Soyinka was in the state to mark the emergence of Port Harcourt as the 2014 World Book Capital.
Decrying pettiness in governance, the
Nobel laureate urged politicians and those in authority to pay attention
always to issues that affect the people instead of focusing on
inconsequential things.
He said, “The judiciary right now, while
it is trying to reform itself, we recognise that there are still some
dark areas, such areas appear to have created the political crisis in
the state.
“I think pettiness at any level is
unbecoming of any democratic situation. That is all I want to say about
that. I see that I cannot escape all what is going on. I have also put
some questions myself, I mean, obviously, I am a citizen of this nation.
So, I am affected personally by what is happening at the opposite end
of the nation.
“I am very much concerned about the
imbroglio in which the state (Rivers State) appears to be involved at
the moment and my main comment is for heaven’s sake, whatever happens
internally between parties and so on, please do not debase and do not
manipulate the judiciary.
“That is my appeal to governance at all
levels. Please do not manipulate the judiciary because when you do, you
have chaos, you have total anarchy, you reduce the nation to a space of
complete breakdown of law and order, which is what this nation had
better avoid.”
Soyinka, however, congratulated the
government and people of the state on the emergence of Port Harcourt as
the World Book Capital.
He expressed the need to use knowledge
to fight the forces of retrogression, violent negativist as represented
by members of the Boko Haram sect.
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