NOBEL laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has said it would take time for President Muhammadu Buhari to clear the rot he inherited from his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, whose administration, he believed, left a “heavy baggage” and “burden” that may take a while to tackle.
But, the playwright urged President to sustain efforts at improving the economy. He spoke in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The literary icon was scheduled to speak at a public lecture on the theme: Politics, Culture and the New Africa.
He said: “This (Buhari) administration has inherited a heavy baggage. While I am critical in some aspects of the priority, I think that to clear up the mess left by previous administrations is going to take quite a while, especially in the economy sector. So, I don’t use words like optimism or pessimism; I’m just pragmatic. I look at what is on the ground and, of course, wherever I can intervene, I do both privately and publicly.”
Also speaking, another renowned author, Prof Kole Omotoso, said the Buhari administration had tackled a number of things, but added that the President must intensify his effort to alleviate the suffering of the people. “We are going in the right direction but in the process, we need to do so many things. We need to look at not just the suffering of the people but the way people seem to indulge in bearing suffering. It is as if even if you try to solve the problem for them they will prefer to be suffering and smiling,” Prof Omotoso said.