Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has urged President Bola Tinubu to revisit unresolved cases of assassinations and extrajudicial killings to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s justice system.
Mr Soyinka, a professor, made the call on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture organised by the National Association of Seadogs (Pirates Confraternity).
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The lecture, themed “Reclaiming the Nigerian State through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” also marked the association’s annual Martyrs’ Day.
Mr Soyinka said Nigeria has a long history of unconstitutional arrests, unlawful detention, unresolved assassinations and extrajudicial killings.
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He lamented that successive governments had failed to deliver justice for victims and their families.
“This lecture is dedicated to the martyrs, to those who have needlessly and avoidably had their lives wasted,” he said.
According to him, many Nigerians have been killed by state agencies or other perpetrators without accountability.
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Mr Soyinka cited the case of Deborah Samuel, lynched by fellow students of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto State, in 2022 over the accusation that she denigrated the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. Her death remained one of the country’s unresolved tragedies, he said.
He described the killing of the female student by her alleged classmates as evidence of the nation’s deep justice deficit.
“The crime is not only the killing. The greater crime is the silence that followed and the failure to hold those responsible accountable,” he added.
The Nobel laureate said a country where people can be gunned down by state actors in broad daylight without anyone being held accountable has failed its citizens.
He dismissed suggestions that raising such issues was intended to provoke religious or ethnic divisions.
According to him, the protection of human life should remain the foundation of every democratic society.
“I want the justice system in Nigeria not to fail us again. I don’t want it to create a pattern of impunity where human lives are treated as disposable,” he said.
Mr Soyinka recalled that President Tinubu, upon assuming office in 2023, requested files on unresolved assassinations and extrajudicial killings.
He urged the president to make the findings public and ensure that justice was served.
“I want Nigerians to join me in asking President Tinubu to bring out those files. We want to know what happened, why it happened and who should be held accountable,” he said.
The playwright noted that the lecture was intended to remind citizens of their collective responsibility to uphold justice and defend human dignity.
He called on Nigerians to reject impunity and work together to build a society anchored on accountability, justice and respect for the sanctity of human life.
Starting point of justice
In his keynote address, former Minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka said that justice began long before cases reached the courts.
He argued that justice started with how complaints were handled by security agencies, insisting that decisions should be based on merit rather than external influence.
Mr Chidoka said about 64 per cent of inmates in custodial centres across the country were awaiting trial, with more than 50,000 Nigerians being held without convictions.
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“Each of these 50,000 is a life in suspension. When the state causes that delay and citizens pay with their liberty, the delay becomes a form of violence,” he said.
He maintained that justice must protect all citizens equally, irrespective of political affiliation, ethnicity or social status.
“The law is not established when it protects only our family and friends. Justice must defend the accused, the unpopular, the political opponent and the minority,” Mr Chidoka added.
Earlier, Timi Alaibe, the chairman of the occasion and former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, identified tribalism, weak institutions and poor accountability as major obstacles to Nigeria’s development.
Mr Alaibe said Nigeria possessed abundant human and natural resources but had continued to underperform because of weak institutions and inconsistent policy implementation.
According to him, the country’s greatest challenge is not the absence of solutions but the failure to act on what is already known.
“Too often, the institutions, designed to hold power accountable, have been weakened, while justice remains a privilege rather than a right for many Nigerians,” he said. M
Mr Alaibe said the National Association of Seadogs was founded on ideals that reject colonialism, ethnic chauvinism, clannishness, and partisanship.
He stressed that accountability depends not only on laws but also on the courage of citizens and institutions to uphold justice without fear or favour.
“Reclaiming the Nigerian state will not come through one dramatic event but through the steady accumulation of principled choices by citizens, institutions and leaders,” Mr Alaibe said.
(NAN)
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