BY EMEKA EJERE
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says the National Assembly should listen and respond to the calls for the restructuring of Nigeria and take responsibility towards the effect because it has the powers and moral authority to respond to do that if the Presidency is not doing so.
Soyinka, who was speaking in an interview on AIT’s Kakaaki programme on Wednesday, said, “The Presidency is saying it’s not my responsibility. On the other hand, the National Assembly keeps saying it wants the President to take action. When that happens, why doesn’t the National Assembly say fine, we take this as our responsibility, we are obliged to the people who elected us here, the shout is heard even by the deaf today that this nation must restructure, and if that has to be done through the constitution, we are now going to face this as one of our major tasks” and then lead the Presidency on its own?”
He continued, “If the Presidency is not responding, then the National Assembly has the powers and the moral authority to respond to the desire of the populace.”
On why the National Assembly has been reluctant to take up the leadership opportunity, Soyinka said, “Very often, they are struggling for those various committees where I think all the goodies are shared, so they are compromised. But when I speak about this, I’m not speaking about the entirety. But unfortunately, there are those who are purely for their own interest and who make compromises with the Executives simply because they want to fulfil their own personal interest.”
Restructuring the country, which was a major campaign promise of the All Progressives Congress-led federal government has been a contentious issue since the inception of the Buhari Administration, with many analysts insisting that it is the only way for Nigeria to make any serious headway.
