Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, has said that for his sanity to be intact, it is best to forget about the existence of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The erudite professor said this in an interview with Kaftan TV aboard the Lagos-Ibadan train service. Soyinka said one must forget about the government to have a sense of balance.
“I don’t want to talk about Muhammadu Buhari’s administration,” he said when asked if the train service is a plus to the Buhari administration.
“I think it is best for my sanity just to avoid that overall question. I can take bits and pieces of Nigeria’s present predicament but I think for one’s sense of balance, one must forget the existence of the Buhari administration.”
The professor said the train service would boost commerce in the region, narrating how he spent hours in traffic on a trip from Lagos to Abeokuta, Ogun state capital.
“It is a work in progress but it is a very impressive work in progress considering the difficulty of really executing anything in this country,” he said.
“I think we are looking at a virtual transport revolution which is long overdue. I had an engagement in Lagos which I nearly postponed because of the road but for some time I have been saying wait a minute, this thing (train) is supposed to be running and I checked the timetables and I said if I catch the train in Abeokuta I would be in Lagos in an hour and a half, I would be picked up, run around quickly, do my business and here I am.
“I left Abeokuta this morning, I am going back to Abeokuta to eat my Ilafun (yam/cassava flour) and I am going to sleep in my bed this evening.
“It is marvellous. That is what one has been doing in Europe. Why has it taken so long for that to happen here?”
