Soyinka throws support behind IPOB, says Buhari is sick

By Adeola Opeyemi

Professor Wole Soyinka has joined the train of people demanding to know the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Soyinka who also professed his support for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) said there is no doubt that President Buhari is ill, but he needs to reveal what is wrong with him. NAIJ.com gathered that Professor Wole Soyinka made this statement at Paris Book Fair over the weekend, according to Vanguard. The Nobel Laureate said the pro-Biafra agitators had a right to assert themselves as a distinct people, even within a political and geographical zone anywhere in the world.

Soyinka said there is no doubt that Buhari is sick and there is no need for the President to be shy about revealing his health status. Soyinka said: “He’s ill, there’s no question there, and I wish for heaven’s sake that people in public positions would just be honest. “Illness is part of our existence. Buhari owes it to the nation and I don’t know why he and his advisors are being so coy about it."

Soyinka who burnt his American green card after Donald Trump became America's president said Trump exploited “latent xenophobia” to reach the White House, said a people (IPOB) had a right to agitate for self-autonomy within a geographical expression. He said: “It’s not the real estate for me that defines a nation or a people, no, it’s a history, a culture. What is a crime within an artificial entity like Nigeria? You have states being created which are not viable.” Soyinka also criticised the alleged extra-judicial killings of IPOB members by the Nigerian army. Recently, the Nigerian military denied an allegation by Amnesty International in November that security agents killed some 150 Biafra protesters in the past year. But Soyinka said: “I cannot accept the notion that people have a right to kill other people because they want to assert their identity… It doesn’t cost anything to recognise it.” He recalled that President Buhari travelled out of Nigeria on January 19 for a medical vacation that was extended indefinitely and he spent 51 days on his trip before returning to the country on March 10. The President is however, yet to reveal what was wrong with his health. Read more