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Soyinka reveals how young Nigerians can ‘kick out’ wealthy politicians from office



Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has expressed optimism that young Nigerian politicians could kick out old and wealthy politicians from power if they are ready to take their destiny in their own hands.

Soyinka made the statement in an elaborate interview published by Premium Times, a few days President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide Garba Shehu accused the literary giant of blackmailing the APC-led government.

He had likened the arrest of the convener #RevolutionNow Omoyele Sowore to a military dictatorship.

But unperturbed Soyinka released another bombshell, saying young Nigerian politicians could adopt Lula Da Silva’s tactics to flush old and rich Nigerian politicians out of power without carrying arms.

Da Silva popularly called Lula is a former union leader and President of Brazil from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2010.

He said he was amazed by how the former Brazillian union leader was able to achieve a great political feat.

“I find the Lula example so dramatic. You know, he used to be a Union leader. He said he printed leaflets and would stand at street corners to hand out those leaflets, then say, My name is Lula, I am running for office. This is my manifesto.

“On the street corners-– probably changing street corners everyday-– with these hundreds of leaflets of his, passing them out. He said that’s how he did it, and I believe him,” Soyinka said.

He urged the young politicians who don’t have the financial strength to compete with the money-bag politicians to carefully find effective and simple ways of convincing the electorates, “It won’t be easy. But you should persist,” the Nobel Laureate said.

Soyinka also said he predicted that Barack Obama was going to be the first African American president. Obama was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.

He said young America students played a significant role in the emergence of Obama as the first Black American president.

“I was also in the States when Obama was considered a joke at the beginning, I saw how it worked. I saw at first hand how his campaign was beamed largely at the young, and the young got the message.

“They took the message to their parents, to their uncles and aunties. And I have testimonies of those who, at the beginning, would just dismiss those American youth with a look, take your pocket-money and go buy yourself a bubble gum and leave us alone.

“But, eventually, those kids won their parents over. Their parents admitted how they became convinced that it was time for this outsider, an outsider with a clearly articulated vision, to take over the reins.

Soyinka said he witnessed how students slept in campaign offices, on camp beds, desks and benches with one bottle of Coke and a hamburger, to resume work the following morning.

“Obama inspired them and they felt that, historically, the moment was right. I was on the ground. I saw it happen, and I was able to say confidently, Watch, America is about to have a first black president. It is happening,” he said.

Speaking on how Nigeria got it wrong, he said, “I think where we got it wrong was, first of all, the coup itself, which brought in the military. I think the military was largely responsible.”

He charged the youth to take the bull by the horn if they wanted a leadership change.


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