Soyinka to Buhari: Engage Niger Delta militants, respond “positively” to their demands

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, on Thursday said he had been contacted to intervene in the Niger Delta crisis, and appealed to the government to “respond positively”.

Mr. Soyinka, who did not clarify his role, lashed out at the Nigerian media, accusing them of “extreme invention” and “distortion of facts”.

At a press conference in Lagos, Mr. Soyinka said he would no longer be speaking to the local media over issues concerning Nigeria’s efforts to end militancy in the Niger Delta.

News reports had quoted Mr. Soyinka as saying that the services of international mediators would be sought to mediate between the Nigerian government and militants to resolve the Niger Delta crisis.

Mr. Soyinka had met with President Muhammadu Buhari on August 11, and when approached by journalists afterwards, he said they had discussed “national and international matters, general matters, that’s all”.

He, however, promised to schedule a press conference later to give further details about the meeting.

But on Thursday, Mr. Soyinka said he would rather discuss a Lebanese-Nigerian partnership involving his Wole Soyinka Foundation.

Mr. Soyinka, however, appealed to the Nigerian government to hold positive negotiations with the Niger Delta militants in order to solve the crisis in the region.

“I wish to make an appeal publicly to the government, and please report me accurately, to respond positively to the outrage from the militant groups,” he said.

“That is the request which has been made by some of the groups who got me into this interventionist role in the first place. At the moment they feel that the government of President Buhari is not seriously responding to their own outrage. And I wish to make a personal appeal to the government to respond positively and let us see where it ends us.

“But I’m not part of any international group, I was approached personally and I’ve been responding personally to some of these groups just as I did when President Jonathan was in power and MEND was the umbrella group of the insurgents.

“So I make that appeal once more to the government, please respond to the efforts of these militant groups to arrive at a holistic and comprehensive solution.

“Please don’t attribute to me things I never said.”

-Premium Times