TVC N. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has refused to act as a negotiator on behalf of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA)
Last week the NDA have warned the federal government of consequences if it fails to enter into dialogue with the right people and demanded Wole Soyinka as one of their spokespersons.
However, in his press statement Professor Soyinka has stressed that he is just an adviser and never agreed to represent the interests of the militant group in negotiations with the federal government.
Read his report: “I have just seen the release by the NDA that I shall be leading NDA’S negotiating team. I wish to make it abundantly clear that I have never at any time agreed to any such mission. My role in this affair has been restricted to advising this movement on realistic approaches to a rational resolution. I have no intention of extending that role.”
Dwelling on ways of coming out of crisis in a petroleum-rich Niger Delta region Soyinka recommended the restructuring of Nigeria as the best option. He said: “I have also insisted on a holistic approach to the recurrent unrest in the Delta, such as addressing such discontent within the context of national restructuring.”
He also expressed his expressed his “disapproval of negative labeling of other initiators of dialogue, such as designating them vultures. Such language is disturbingly reminiscent of the tragic consequences of a demonizing phase of the earlier struggle by the Ogoni.”
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