Nobel laureate,
Prof. Wole Soyinka on Monday described the total lockdown of Lagos and Ogun
States by President Muhammadu Buhari over coronavirus as illegal and
unconstitutional.
Soyinka, in a
statement said the president did not have the power to unilaterally lockdown a
state, as there was no war or emergency.
The Nobel laureate,
in the statement titled: Between COVID and Constitutional Encroachment,” said
constitutional lawyers and our elected representatives should kindly step into
“this and educate us, mere lay minds. The worst development I can conceive us
is to have a situation where rational measures for the containment of the
Corona pandemic are rejected on account of their questionable genesis.
“This is a time for
Unity of Purpose, not nitpicking dissensions. So, before this becomes a habit,
a question: does President Buhari have the powers to close down state borders?
We want clear answers. We are not in a war emergency.
“Appropriately
focussed on measures for the saving lives, and committed to making sacrifices
for the preservation of our communities, we should nonetheless remain alert to
any encroachment on constitutionally demarcated powers. We need to exercise
collective vigilance, and not compromise the future by submitting to
interventions that are not backed by law and constitution.”
According to
Soyinka, a president who had been conspicuously AWOL, the Rip van Winkle of
Nigerian history, was now alleged to have woken up after a prolonged siesta,
and begun to issue orders.
He asked: “Who
actually instigates these orders anyway? From where do they really emerge? What
happens when the orders conflict with state measures, the product of a
systematic containment strategy – `including even trial-and-error and hiccups –
undertaken without let or leave of the Centre. So far, the anti-COVID-19
measures have proceeded along the rails of decentralised thinking, multilateral
collaboration and technical exchanges between states.
“The Centre is
obviously part of the entire process, and one expects this to be the norm, even
without the epidemic’s frontal assault on the Presidency itself. Indeed, the
Centre is expected to drive the overall effort, but in collaboration, with
extraordinary budgeting and refurbishing of facilities.
“The universal
imperative and urgency of this affliction should not become an opportunistic
launch pad for a sneak RE-CENTRALISATION, no matter how seemingly insignificant
its appearance. I urge governors and legislators to be especially watchful. No
epidemic is ever cured with constitutional piracy. It only lays down new
political viruses for the future.”
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Hmm... Western lockdown, the western state should be vigilant.. this is what the Northerners had been looking for, so that they can carry out their evil plan secretly by plotting some bad things in the western state.. we've three bomb blast not quite long and nobody claim it and yet to be identify the cause.. watch out..
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