Adelanwa Bamgboye
19 December 2008
Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday called for a total overhaul of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, just as he dedicated the award given him by the Nigerian National Merit Award to the apex court for its recent judgment which reaf-firmed President Umaru Musa Yar'adua as the winner of the April 2007 presidential election.
Addressing a press conference at Victoria Island (V.I) Lagos, Soyinka said he would keep the plaque but would only donate the prize money attached to the award to the apex court.
The Nobel Laureate said the entire judicial system needs cleansing, adding that the money should be used to sanitize the system because of the judgment which he said had caused a serious dilemma in the polity.
Prof. Soyinka said while the award and those involved in the nomination of recipients for the award were credible persons who had painstakingly done their job very well, he was taking the decision to give the monetary prize attached to the award because it came at a time when the Supreme Court had just given a judgment which had opened the way for political abuse.
He described the national honours as a jamboree with political undertone, but said the merit award which was given to him by his peers does not have political undertone.
Soyinka was among three scholars honoured with the NNMA on Tuesday by Yar'adua. The others were Prof. Oyewusi Gureje and renowned author, Prof. Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike.
Soyinka however declined to mention the value of the prize money attached to the award.
He disclosed that he had nothing personal against President Yar'adua, but that he believes Yar'Adua was a product and beneficiary of stolen votes.
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