Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka said on Wednesday that both religious and political forces were driving the insurgency by the dreaded Islamist sect Boko Haram that has killed hundreds of people in Northern Nigeria.
Mr Soyinka, in an interview with Reuters, accused power-hungry politicians from northern Nigeria of using indoctrinated young militants, drawn from the ranks of the poor unemployed and educated in Islamic schools, as “foot soldiers” in a battle over who should control the country.
“Those who unleashed Boko Haram on the nation are politicians … These are the ones behind Boko Haram … unfortunately one has to point to what section they come from, and that is the north,” Soyinka said.
“This minority is very focused, very powerful, very rich, they used to be in government, they’ve accumulated billions … they are the ones who unleashed this monster on the nation.”
“They have articulated their conviction that it is their turn to rule Nigeria,” he added, speaking to Reuters after delivering a lecture at the University of South Africa (UNISA).
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian southerner, won elections last year after initially taking over the presidency in 2010 when he was vice president following the death of his northern predecessor Umaru Yar’Adua. Some northern critics see his presidency following Yar’Adua’s death as going against an informal pact within the ruling PDP party that rule should rotate between the north and the south.
Mr Jonathan has challenged Boko Haram to identify themselves and state their demands as a basis for talks.
Soyinka proposed the holding of a national conference, bringing together all sectors of Nigerian society and all national institutions, to discuss regional grievances and problems and thrash out a national consensus for the future.
“We’ve all got to sit down, the various sections of the country, to decide in what manner we want to rule. We’ve got to sit down with the constitution and decide if this is the best constitution for the nation,” he said.
“Eventually we’ll arrive at an even platform where we can begin to discuss the future or non-future of the nation,” Soyinka added.
