allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Henry Okah - the Process of His Trial is Dubious and Unjust

Nigeria: Henry Okah - the Process of His Trial is Dubious and Unjust - Wole Soyinka

Professor Wole Soyinka, playwright, social commentator and Nobel Laureate in this encounter responds to questions on a wide range of subjects: the on-going probes in the national assembly, the replacement for Yoruba leader, Obafemi Awolowo after the demise of Abraham Adesanya, the Henry Okah trial and the Niger Delta question.

There are all manner of probes going on at the national assembly: the power sector probe, the FCT probe, the proposed NNPC/DPR probe and the probe of Obasanjo on Transportation by the senate. Nigeria has a history of probes that never amount to anything. Do you see all these probes leading to anywhere?

I don't think the investigations are wasteful. It is good that the public be informed about transactions done in the past and this requires probe into the past. I don't consider it a wasteful exercise but rather an informative exercise. It may be a very expensive way of going about it but what would come out of these probes at the end of the day depends solely on the public, how much the public is willing to absorb in terms of negativism, in terms of disclosure and the public is the final court as to how to handle the outcome of the investigations.

After former president Obasanjo left office, many things done in secret by that regime are coming to the open. The senate wants to probe him on Transportation. Do you think that probe would be done effectively as he still seems so untouchable?

Nobody is untouchable. I don't believe that but like I said before, the final court is the public. The nation has been undergoing a kind of exercise whereby the public would be tested to the extremes to determine how much it can take, how much deception it can endure, how much betrayal of trust it is willing to take. So, it's a good public exercise.

Now sir, still on the national assembly, you know that the 'former first daughter' has been missing...

'Former first daughter' you called her, it doesn't exist in Nigeria. What kind of expression is that? Who was that? That's a family title. The nation does not have anything like that.

I'm talking about Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former president Obasanjo who has been hiding over allegations of receiving N10 million from the Ministry of Health. What do you think of the controversy surrounding that allegation. Could it be the case of fathers eating sour grapes and the children's teeth being set at edge?

Well, there is a legal system in this country which presumes all accused persons to be innocent until they are proved guilty. What is important is that everyone should be accessible to the processes of investigation and justice. My opinion on Iyabo

Obasanjo is of no consequence at this point. The important thing is that the EFCC and similar organisations continue their investigation irrespective of who is involved. They should be empowered to proceed in their investigations, to be completely thorough and to make their findings known to the next access level, whether it is the courts , or recommendations for a judicial probe or whatsoever. So, I don't think that I should express my opinion on her being innocent or not .It is the investigations that would determine that.

You talked about investigations and the public being put in the know. But you realise that early this week, the House of Reps threw away the Freedom of Information, FOI, bill being sponsored by Rep Abike Dabiri. What's your position on that?

Freedom of Information is sacrosanct especially when information is not available on demand to the public. There are lots of the contradictions involved in the process of passing information. Supposedly, to sit in camera, in secret, like Henry Okah being tried in secret, what kind of democracy is that? So, the Freedom of Information Bill should not be allowed to die and again, its up to the civil society to insist that this matter be put up again.

I want to ask questions on Afenifere but it seems you don't belong to the organisation...

I'm not a member of Afenifere. I do not hold office there. But if Afenifere is indeed a means by which Yoruba people are known, obviously, I'm a member of Afenifere willy-nilly by virtue of being a Yoruba. But I'm not a member of any formal organisation known as Afenifere.

There's been a controversy over the relationship between Afenifere and AD. Some Yorubas think Afenifere is AD, that is, Alliance for Democracy and AD is Afenifere. Others think otherwise. What do you think?

But surely, Alliance for Democracy is a political party, isn't it? Afenifere is like Ohanaeze and Arewa which endorses ethnic entities by virtue of our birth and this is completely distinct from political organisations and alliances. I disagree with the assertion that AD and Afenifere are the same thing. And it is one of the weakness of some of the leaders of AD in trying to insist that any Yoruba no matter his political orientation who is not a member of AD is a bad person. That kind of opinion is almost blasphemous.

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