Obasanjo's Letter: Don't play deaf — Soyinka tells Buhari

Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka 

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has told President Muhammadu Buhari not to ignore the four-page open letter addressed to him, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday.

Obasanjo had written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on the prevalence of insecurity in the country, calling on him to take decisive action to prevent another 'Rwanda-type genocide' in the country.



Speaking with the Daily Sun, Soyinka said Buhari cannot “play deaf” to voices like Obasanjo and former Governor of old Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa.

“Read the Obasanjo statement. It should be obvious to government, by now, that the nation is not sleeping easy.

“When voices as ideologically separated as Obasanjo and Balarabe Musa harp on the same theme, government should understand that this is not the time to play deaf,” he said.



Obasanjo, had in the letter, which centred largely on insecurity in the country, said as a result of the herders-farmers clashes, very onerous cloud is gathering.

Soyinka also agreed that Nigeria is hurting like never before in its history.

He added: “We cannot all be mere idle alarmists and all at the same time.

“The nation is hurting. It’s hurting like none of us can recall in our lifetime.

“It’s a time for unprecedented approaches. The call for a national conference is not new; it is, however, taking on an accelerated urgency that no one should ignore.”