Since power changed hands on May 29, 2015, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who has ruled Nigeria for 16 years to All Progressives Congress (APC), the fight against corruption and change mantra has been the watch words of the new President Muhammadu Buhari led government.
Respected Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, Saturday 9, passed a vote of confidence in the Muhammadu Buhari administrationโs war against corruption even as he predictedย that the fight is not going to be a easyย one.
Soyinkaย made these views known when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at Freedom Park, Lagos Island.
According to the Soyinka, theย practice of abandoning the fight against corruption half way, โwill not happen this timeโ.
Soyinka went on: โWe have never had a situation where we wereย faced not just by emergency but critical emergency with our children being kidnapped under our noses and we were helpless, soldiers were being sent to the war front to defend our essence and we were not backing them up.
โThe fight against corruption in Nigeria is going to be a hard one. There is no question whatsoever that we are not where we were before this administration entered. But we all have to be very careful and I have used this expression again and again that corruption fights back and the ardent fighters are those who are already within the cesspool of corruption and you can see that in the recent episode which I am not going to talk about, I am going to await aย certain letter, which I am told to expect and I hope that the letter writer brings it to my Egba hideout and I will educate him.
โLetโs watch the fight against corruption. It is on two levels: one directly against corruption andย counter attacks which we are. There is no retreat no matter the libel or libelous garbage from any part of this countryโ.
The literary giant also used the opportunity to re-visit the controversy over the N82 million allegedly spent by the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Hon. Rotimi Amechi, to host him to a birthday dinner.
The present Rivers Government last week condemned Mr. Amaechi for spending the money to host Soyinka, vowing to ask the renowned playwright to make a refund if it finds out he received any cash donation from the amount.
The Nobel Laureate described the Rivers Governmentโs allegation as โinsulting, disrespectful and highest desperationโ for anyone to try to rubbish his image on the pages of newspapers.
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