Soyinka Blasts Buhari, Says ‘Rule Of Law’ Comment Sign Of Impending Dictatorship

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has lampooned President Muhammadu Buhari over his recent declaration that “national interest” must come first before rule of law.

The comment, which didn’t go down well with a lot legal professionals and prominent Nigerians, had earned President Buhari widespread condemnations.

“Rule of Law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation’s security and national interest,” the president had said while delivering his speech on Sunday at the 2018 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.

Reacting to the statement credited to Buhari, Soyinka, on Thursday, said Nigerians must appreciate the president for warning them in advance on how he intends to “degrade the authority of the law” if left to continue ruling the country beyond 2019.

In a statement he dubbed ‘Buhari’s Pernicious Doctrine,’ the Nobel Laureate described the president’s statement as coming at the “perfect time” as it would inform Nigerians’ voting decision in the 2019 presidential election.

Soyinka said, “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.

“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.”

The playwright added, “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,” said Soyinka.