Boko Haram: Igbo Group Attacks Soyinka Over Comments

Igboeze, a socio-political association of the Igbo people has asked Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka to tender a public apology to the Igbo people for what it termed his denigration of the people.

Wole Soyinka

Prof. Soyinka had last Thursday said that the Boko Haram war was worse than the Biafra/Nigeria war in 1967-70, when a secessionist attempt by the Eastern region nearly tore the country into ethnic regions.

According to Daily Trust report, the group accused Soyinka of abusing the sensibilities of Ndigbo by his statement.

In a statement by the national leader of the group in Abuja, Chief Chekwas Okorie said Soyinka could have captured the essence of his statement on the unity of Nigeria without digressing to compare the Biafra war which lasted for 30-months and captured the attention of the whole world with the Boko Haram insurgency that is plaguing the nation.

Describing the statement as insensitive, reckless and irresponsible, the group said it is unfortunate that someone like Soyinka could open old wounds and provoke Ndigbo unnecessarily by reducing Biafra to a sole Igbo agenda that “could have torn Nigeria up into ethnic regions.”

Boko Haram, which means ‘western education is a sin’ in Hausa language, was designated as a terrorist group by the US government in 2013. The terrorist group has launched several attacks across the nation, especially in the Northern region, which has left scores of people dead.

Recently, reports surfaced that a key suspect in the abduction of Chibok girls, Babuji Ya’ari, was arrested after Nigerian security reportedly busted Boko Haram intelligence cell.

Following his arrest, three female Boko Haram suspects, identified as: Hafsat Usman Bako, Zainab Idris and Aisha Abubakar were also nabbed.

3 COMMENTS

  1. It is good Nigerian’s are beginning to smell the rot that comes out of the old lauret that is fast becoming a once celebrated opportunist. He now sounds very unpatriotic and misguided in an attempt to gain political relevance in a country that it political/democratic structure is shaky. Our dear professor has belittled our country’s might and existance as a nation twice in the space of less than one week. I remember hear him addressing our country’s military force as people who have gone mad, that instead going after boko haram, they are now the boko haran going after innocent civilians in Lagos because of the killed soldier and BRT bus saga. I don’t think this is suppose to be from a man of such repute. Except otherwise! Watch your tongue prof!!!

  2. I don’t get the point of troubling here. The professor to me only made a simple comparison saying that the war of boko haram was or is rather bigger than the Biafran war. This to me is in no way to undermine the Biafran war but rather just a simple way of comparison. The Igboeze to me overrated the statement and are picking on the elderly professor for nothing. We have bigger problems in our hands, let us come together and tackle it and stop building petty issues. We are One Nigeria, let us live devoid of ethnicity and sectionalism. GODBLESS NIGERIA