Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said that the insurgency of the Boko Haram sect has gone beyond what President Goodluck Jonathan can address urging him to seek international assistance.
The respected writer also accused the president of allowing the problem to fester by not crying out on time describing his approach to the terror war as “very late and lackadaisically.”
He spoke on Tuesday during a global affairs interview television programme, Amanpour, on Cable News Network, monitored by our correspondent in Lagos.
Soyinka described the video released by the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, as “gleeful obscenity” and called on the international community to intervene.
He said, “President Jonathan should have asked for it (assistance) from the very beginning. I don’t believe in false pride. The history of the movement to which Boko Haram belongs is one which is a menace to the entire world.
“This is a government which is not only in denial mentally but is in denial of certain obvious steps to take. It is the missing humanity that the problem will go away; an attitude that occurs in the subconscious.
“But, one thing is certain, the President and his government cannot sleep easily after what has happened to Nigeria. The era of denial and indifference has ended. The situation has now gone beyond the President and the solution must be internationalised.”
“The government of the nation is in serious trouble. The person who has no excuse is the President of the nation. I’m calling now not on the nation but on the international community to take action. This is a global problem and the foothold is being very deeply entrenched in West Africa”.
