Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate,
says those who tried to alter the rule of law paid heavily for this.
The literary scholar said this in
response to President Muhammadu Buhari’s position that “national security” is
superior to the the rule of law.
Buhari said this at the 2018
annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.
But Soyinka disagreed, recalling
human rights record of the Buhari military regime.
“Here we go again! At his first
coming, it was “I intend to tamper with Freedom of the Press”, and Buhari did
proceed to suit action to the words, sending two journalists – Irabor and
Thompson – to prison as a reward for their professional integrity,” he said in
an article.
“Now, a vague, vaporous, but
commodious concept dubbed “national interest” is being trotted out as alibi for
flouting the decisions of the Nigerian judiciary. President Buhari has
obviously given deep thought to his travails under a military dictatorship, and
concluded that his incarceration was also in the “national interest”.
“The timing is perfect, and we
have cause to be thankful for the advance warning, since not all rulers
actually make a declaration of intent, but simply proceed to degrade the
authority of the law as part of the routine business of governance. We have
been there before. It should be of mere interest, not despondency, that this latest
proclamation of dictatorial recidivism has also been made before an assembly of
officers of the law, the Nigerian Bar Association. We expect a robust response
from the NBA as part of its conclusions.
“There is no short cut to
democracy. The history of law, even where uncodified, is as old as humanity.
Numerous rulers have tried again and again to annul that institution.
Sometimes, they appear to succeed, but in the end, they pay heavy forfeit. So
does society. The Rule of Law however outlasts all subverters, however
seemingly powerful. If the consequences for society in defence of the Rule of
Law were not so costly, any new attempt would be merely banal and boring,
hardly deserving of attention. We know, historically, where it will all end.”
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