Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, said that for the sake of his sanity, he imagined that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari did not exist.
Soyinka gave the shocking verdict during a recent interview with Kaftan TV. He was one of those who supported Buhari to power in 2015.
He, however, isolated aspects of the Buhari administration and described the new Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan standard gauge train as marvellous even though long overdue.
He spoke aboard the new train where he stated pointedly that he would not like to talk about Buhari’s government because he imagined the regime did not exist.
In a riposte to the question on whether the new train was a plus to Buhari’s administration, Soyinka said, “I don’t want to talk about Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. I think it is best for my sanity just to avoid that overall question.
“I can take bits and pieces of Nigeria’s present predicament but I think for one’s sense of balance, one must forget the existence of the Buhari administration.”
The Nobel Laureate said for years Nigeria had seen the roads turn to a death traps while rail transport had been neglected.
He said on two occasions he had spent over six hours on the road from Lagos to Abeokuta.
It was in the context of his bad road travel experiences that he spoke in glowing terms of the new train.
Soyinka said: “It (rail) is a work in progress but it is a very impressive work in progress considering the difficulty of really executing anything in this country….
“I think we are looking at a virtual transport revolution which is long overdue.”
He said the rail revival would not only change the people’s mentality but boost commerce.
He recalled how, as a young boy, he rode on trains but that, at some point, Nigeria abandoned the rail transport.
According to him: “I have spent, on the road between Lagos and Abeokuta six hours. A few weeks ago at the launching of my novel in Abeokuta, I left Lagos…. The journey took about seven hours.”
He stated that the traffic congestion had deteriorated to the extent that “women now give birth in traffic and even name their children after the cars in which they give birth.”
He said the new train was marvellous and he was glad to ride in it.
Soyinka also said: “I had an engagement in Lagos which I nearly postponed because of the road but for some time I have been saying wait a minute, this thing (train) is supposed to be running and I checked the timetables and I said if I catch the train in Abeokuta I would be in Lagos in an hour and a half, I would be picked up, run around quickly, do my business and here I am.”
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