In a statement entitled “Buhari’s Pernicious Doctrine”,
Soyinka said that the President must have thought about his own travails under
a military dictatorship and concluded that it was also in the national
interest.
Soyinka said in a statement entitled “Buhari’s Pernicious Doctrine”, that the President must have thought about his own travails under
a military dictatorship and concluded that it was also in the national
interest.
The statement read in part;
“The timing is perfect, and we have cause to be thankful for the advance warning, since not all rulers actually make a declaration of intent, but simply proceed to degrade the authority of the law as part of the routine business of governance.
“We have been there before. It should be of mere interest, not despondency, that this latest proclamation of dictatorial recidivism has also been made before an assembly of officers of the law, the Nigerian Bar Association. We expect a robust response from the NBA as part of its conclusions."
President Buhari had told a gathering of lawyers at the
Nigerian Bar Association conference in Abuja that the rule of law must be
subjected to the national interest.
But the Nobel laureate criticised the President’s statement,
saying, “There is no shortcut to democracy. The history of law, even where
uncodified, is as old as humanity. Numerous rulers have tried again and again
to annul that institution. Sometimes, they appear to succeed, but in the end,
they pay a heavy forfeit. So does society.
“The Rule of Law, however, outlasts all subverters, however seemingly powerful. If the consequences for society in defence of the Rule of Law were not so costly, any new attempt would be merely banal and boring, hardly deserving of attention. We know, historically, where it will all end.”
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