Soyinka Declines Negotiator's Role For Militants, Demands Restructuring

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has disavowed a role as a negotiator on behalf of the Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group that has claimed responsibility for numerous bombing attacks on oil installations in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
In a press statement, made available to newsmen, Soyinka declared that he never agreed to play a role as a representative of the interests of the Avengers in any negotiations with the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It would be recalled that about a week ago, the Avengers had issued a statement warning the Buhari administration against negotiating with any delegation from the Niger Delta led by a traditional ruler, King Alfred Diette-Spiff, and other personalities from the geopolitical zone.
They said that only Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark team has the mandate of the group in interfacing with the government.
They also declared Diette-Spiff and the other would-be negotiators as “vultures.”
The militant group further asserted that it would only recognize a negotiating team led by the Soyinka and Anthony Ani.
However, the Nobel laureate, Thursday, denied that he ever agreed to play a role as a negotiator.
“I have just seen the release by the Avengers that I shall be leading NDA's negotiating team,” he said, adding, “I wish to make it abundantly clear that I have never, at any time, agreed to any such mission.
“My role in this affair has been restricted to advising this movement on realistic approaches to a rational resolution. I have no intention of extending that role.”
In the statement, the literary icon prescribed the restructuring of Nigeria as the most enduring way to address the crisis in the Niger Delta.
He stated: “I have also insisted on a holistic approach to the recurrent unrest in the Niger Delta, such as addressing such discontent within the context of national restructuring.”
In his statement, Soyinka took exception to the NDA’s description of Diette-Spiff and other potential negotiators as ‘vultures’.
He voiced “disapproval of negative labelling of other initiators of dialogue, such as designating them vultures. Such language is disturbingly reminiscent of the tragic consequences of a demonizing phase of the earlier struggle by the Ogoni.”
Source::SaharaReporters