Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka described the pact signed by President Goodluck Jonathan, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and nine other
presidential candidates to maintain peace during next month’s election as a positive step.
He praised the
organisers of the 2015 General Elections Sensitisation Workshop on Non-Violence,
where the agreement was signed.
Soyinka said he hoped 2015 would prove to be a “a
live-and-learn election year, not a do-or-die!”
The Nobel laureate also condemned politicians and media outlets who construct interviews based on falsehood.
The statement reads: “It was with high expectations that I
went through details of the Abuja peace accord recently agreed by the political
party leaders, mandating decent and civilised campaign conduct among the
contestants, their agents and supporters. I was not disappointed. It is a
positive step in the direction of democracy, for which I must commend the
efforts of those seasoned interventionists, Emeka Anyaoku and Kofi Annan.
“Adhered to with good will and sincerity, it should ensure a
wholesome space for future elections, and pre-empt further violence. It might
even come close to what the democratic ideal should be, as canvassed by others,
including Governor Fashola a few years ago – a people’s fiests!
“From personal interest however, I was disappointed that the
communiqué makes no reference to the violence done to members of the electorate
whose identities are stolen, abused and debased during this exercise.
“It is rapidly becoming commonplace to encounter totally
fictitious statements, even entire interviews published and attributed to
unsuspecting authorship. This criminal proceeding has even involved the cloning
of media mastheads to which non-existent interviews are then attached. To
render it in local parlance, this is political 419, and of the most despicable
brand.
“While it would be unjust to place direct responsibility on
the contestants, one must stress that they also have a moral responsibility to
denounce these dirty tricksters in the strongest terms, even in their own
interest.
“The resentment inspired in victims of such cowardly conduct
cannot but impact on their own political image. The media must also protect
itself by taking necessary measures against such unprincipled confusionists. It
is the democratic right of every citizen to know exactly who is saying what on
issues that affect their political choices.
“Let me thus seize the occasion of the Abuja accord to state
categorically that I have never made a statement endorsing any presidential or
governorship contestant. All such
attributions are fabrications by faceless, often self-appointed agents of
deception, and should be publicly pilloried.
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