N obel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, declared on Thursday
that no one should vote for the continuation of President
Goodluck Jonathan’s government, saying that there has
been a total failure in leadership.
He said he has sixty reasons not to vote for the Jonathan
regime. I will not vote and I will not encourage anyone to vote for
the continuation of this government, simply because your
colleagues numbering over two hundred were kidnapped, ”
Soyinka told students at the 2015 edition of Vision of the
Child (VOTC), a yearly programme inaugurated in 2012.
He said the Chibok girls kidnapped on 14 April of last year
were sent on a mission to acquire an education, but ended
up being kidnapped.
“And the government of this nation failed to show
leadership. So anyone who says after that event that I will
vote or cast my vote or encourage anyone to vote for this
regime must be living in Sambisa forest,” Soyinka said,
referring to a forest in Borno State where the Chibok girls
are believed to be held by Boko Haram.
“There has been a failure of leadership. Our children whom
you represent today have been betrayed,” Soyinka said,
adding that no appropriate action was taken to retrieve
them.
Soyinka said it took the Jonathan government ten days to
even accept that the Chibok girls were even missing.
“After that dereliction of duty, after that failure of leadership,
after that betrayal for our future, for anyone to think or to
put words in my mouth suggesting that I will vote or
encourage anyone to vote for this regime is a travesty of
intelligence, ” Soyinka said.
Soyinka laughed off those who had claimed on the social
media that he was dead, telling journalists at the event that
they should not misquote him. If they do, he added, he will
rise from the dead to correct them.
The 2015 edition of Vision of the Child has for theme “The
Road to Sambisa”.
This year, a total of 250 student participants from 60
primary and secondary schools within Lagos attended the
interview. The age bracket for the participants was 9 to 12
years.
Their entries were assessed by a panel of eminent judges
comprising teachers, artists, child carers and social
workers.
The finalists will be invited on the 7 March to the National
Conversation Foundation Park. Lekki, and provided with
brush, paint and easel, and will be required to illustrate their
literary presentation in the complementary medium painting.
This year, 60 finalists were drawn from 35 schools within
Lagos State, said Foluke George, Festival Secretary and
Programme Manager for the Vision of the Child.
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