Governors Scared Of Pushing For More Autonomy – Soyinka

Wole Soyinka, Nobel lauréate, says governors needs to shed the toga of timidity and all out in demanding for greater autonomy.

Soyinka said the governors are exceedingly embroiled in “centralised mentality” and are not doing anything to break the yoke of unitary system.

Soyinka bore his mind when he spoke on Saturday at the virtual Obafemi Awolowo lecture with the theme, ‘Whither Nigeria?’

He implored the governor to do anything legal to achieve their aims.

“I want to make a plea to all governors, stop being so timid. Push this federal envelope as far as it can go, even while we undertake the technical aspect of restructuring,” he said.

“Whether in terms of dialogue, evolving the constitution or whatever, something has to go on, after all, we’ve had so many of these confabs.”

He noted that governors should take charge of the welfare of their people while stressing that they need more autonomy to operate.

“My plea is to governors to start with the immediate responsibility of the welfare of your own people in whatever term and if you study the constitution carefully, I have done this with lawyers, and it seems that a lot can be done at this moment,” he said.

“Consult with your lawyers, I have consulted with mine and they also expressed the view that the governors are too timid, there is too much centralised mentality embedded in their minds and they are afraid to come out of their cocoons

“You need a season of greater autonomy for your own states and that is what I mean by pushing the federal envelope as far as it can go even with this impossible document that we have to cease what power, what authority you can derive from the constitution.”

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