Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has stated that the use of bullets and tear gas on Nigerians protesting against economic hardship is an abuse of state power. Soyinka said the manner in which security operatives treated the protesters condemns the nation to a “seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals.”
In an opinion piece titled “The Hunger March as Universal Mandate,” Soyinka criticized President Bola Tinubu’s speech on Sunday for failing to address the “continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management.”
Soyinka argued that hunger protests are not unique to Nigeria and that the nation’s security agencies should adopt alternative models and civilized advances in security intervention. He expressed concern about the “continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management,” which he believed was not adequately addressed in the presidential address.
Soyinka emphasized that the use of live bullets and tear gas as a state response to civic protest is unacceptable and constitutes an abuse of power. He noted that hunger marches are a universal call for help and should not be met with violence.
He also referenced the ENDSARS protests and the folk opera “Bread and Bullets” by Hubert Ogunde, which criticized colonial-era abuses.
Soyinka urged the government to abandon lethal means of responding to protests, citing the need for a lasting transformation in the way security agencies interact with civic society.
In a nationwide broadcast on Sunday, President Tinubu had urged protesters to end their 10-day demonstration, saying he had heard their concerns “loud and clear.”
