Talking About Buhari Administration Not Good For My Sanity – Soyinka
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has said that it is best and for the sake of sanity not to discuss the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Soyinka said this in an interview with Kaftan TV monitored by newsmen.
The professor, however, commended the Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan standard gauge train which was completed by the Buhari administration.
When asked whether the new train was a plus to Buhari’s regime, he said, “I don’t want to talk about Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. I think it is best for my sanity just to avoid that overall question. I can take bits and pieces of Nigeria’s present predicament but I think for one’s sense of balance, one must forget the existence of the Buhari administration.”
The playwright said for years Nigeria had seen the roads turn to a death trap while rail transport had been neglected.
He said on two occasions he had spent over six hours on the road from Lagos to Abeokuta.
Speaking highly of the new train, Soyinka said, “It is a work in progress but it is a very impressive work in progress considering the difficulty of really executing anything in this country… I think we are looking at a virtual transport revolution which is long overdue.”
The Nobel laureate said the rail revival would not only change the people’s mentality but boost commerce.
He recalled how as a young boy he rode on trains but at some point Nigeria abandoned the rail transport.
“I have spent hours on the road between Lagos and Abeokuta. A few weeks ago at the launching of my novel in Abeokuta, I left Lagos…. The journey took about seven hours,” Soyinka said.
