Soyinka warns against taking revenge, calls for political system overhaul

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka appealed to fellow Nigerians on Monday not to exact revenge over a wave of deadly attacks blamed on Islamist sect Boko Haram but called for an overhaul of the political system.

"We must not accept the agenda of Boko Haram. Do not consider reprisals, protect your neighbours," Soyinka said after Friday's attacks in the mainly Muslim northern city of Kano that left more than 160 people dead.

It was one of the deadliest attacks blamed on Boko Haram in Nigeria, which is roughly divided between between a predominately Muslim north and a mainly Christian south, and has fuelled fears of civil war.


"They (Boko Haram) want to push your patience to the limit. They want to embark on a programme where neighbours will turn against neighbours," the Nobel literature laureate told a gathering of mainly civil society groups.

He also said he believed the presidential system in Nigeria was "a total disaster", adding: "We are calling for complete systemic overhaul."

Soyinka also hailed the mass protests staged this month against a government decision to abolish fuel subsidies, a move that sent tens of thousands of people into the streets.

"Nigerians have demonstrated a solidarity which they sadly often lacked. A compact has emerged from the events of last week. A new spirit and citizenry has emerged. Very refreshing and very stimulating".

He lambasted what he said were bloated salaries for lawmakers in a country lacking some basic infrastructure and where the majority of the 160 million population get by on less than $2 a day.

"We have a cancerous situation now in the system," he said.

Soyinka, a dramatist and essayist, became Africa's first Nobel laureate in literature when he won the prize in 1986