“We Have Been Here Before”- Prof. Wole Soyinka On Okey Ndibe's Arrest And Seizure Of Passport

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Mbt, Calzado MBT y creo que el revestimiento izquierdo original del revestimiento derecho en las mentes de muchas personas, zapatos de salud sobrecargados con los "rústicos" zapato mbt cargas a la calle vestidas por supuesto que no marcha en contra de un rústico, la mayoría de los suelos convertido también en el más corriente Comprar MBT mayor y la necesidad de corregir a las personas sanas se marcha con zapatos, pero yo creo que mucha gente piensa que en la mente de muchas personas, MBT Zapatillas
Sudor. Más información MBT todo en la web oficial de MBT: http://www.calzadombt.net/

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Canada Goose

It is blatantly pellucid to perceive that because our politicians are paragons of jiggery pokery.The desire for politics in Nigeria is the inborn proclivity to acquire national cake and forsake the people.I pray God deliver us from the shackles of democracy

Prof, you mentioned freedom to associate? Does it include freedom to associate with boko haram?

It is your duty as the web master of this site to stop anonymous postings.
Serious people will speak and write their names.
Look, the comments here are read by many and taken seriously.
Only verified members ought to post here.
Okey Ndibe should not have visited Nigeria.
Honestly, he ought to leave as soon as he can, the country is not safe for people who write online.

GEJ is trying to build administrative structure not individual, if the sss have any reason to question anybody so be it. We have a director of SSS and other security agencies, pple should be bold and ask questions not castigating the President. I know if u r an American that leave outside America, if u keep attacking Obama with ur write up, i know the America Security agencies would definitely question u. I think any body that feel aggrieved should go to the law court.

That most of the bloggers here've been to school is not in doubt. Infact, most even got their certificates outside the shores of Nigeria. What's in doubt is the quality of their education.
That people will heap the blame of Okey's brief detention and passport seizure on GEJ is not only laughable but silly!
Look, GEJ might not be the best we want for this country but pls give him a break because he could never have ordered for the SSS to act on Okey.
The good thing about this is that the Prof was only questioned for a few hours then asked to report back on Monday unlike what was the norm before. If no skelton is found in his closet, his passports'll be released to him immediately. If he has plenty of bones in there, then he'll be charged to court to defend himself.
We are all glamouring for good governance. To some people, GEJ should personally be combing the whole of Nigeria for kidnappers, bombers, robbers, etc! Have you all put yourselves in GEJ's shoes?
Can you for a day handle the affairs of this country?
If yes, pls go pick up a presidential form and vie for the post of the president on any platform and i pray you win and bring in your magic wand.
I can bet that most of the people critising GEJ for the mere fact that Okey was denied entry briefly on arrival into the country will not even vote for the change they so seek come April.
Most of you comment for the sake of it.
Okey is not without blemish as a human being. He can even hide under the cloak of his profession and personality to latently commit atrocities against the state or even America for that matter but i'm sure he's clean.
These days we've all been aware of intellectuals metamorphosing to suicide bombers!
Lets wait until the SSS come up with their reasons before we crucify them NOT GEJ pls. And the SSS better get their apologies ready once they are sure the guy has no case to answer.
By the way, is Atiku a better option to GEJ? My answer is NO. If Prof. Wole Soyinka steps out to contest for the office of the President today will Nigerians including those insulting GEJ vote him in?...the ans is NO! because most of them won't even bother to visit the polling centre talkless of casting any vote!!!
Will they volunteer by knocking on every door in their villages to senticise the people on the need to vote for credible people like Soyinka? No, because they will complain of time and the need to husle for money. The only good thing they know is to sit on computers or whatever technology is available to them in the comfort of their homes and offices to insult people who are doing their best to tackle the enormous hydra-headed wahala of this country the best ways they can.
Now, the BIG QUESTION is - Who is fooling who??? because i'm sick of reading nonsense from these so-called self acclaimed intellectuals!

Why are you guys withholding all that I have written earlier on this Okey Ndibe issue. I thought you pride yourself on freedom of speech and expression, still you cannot publish any dissenting opinion.

If I must not have my say on a mere rumour-mongering site like this, then why must your master Okey Ndibe not be arrested and questioned for sitting in his adopted country(U.S)and dishing out series of garbage that could be detrimental to the relative peace we enjoy in our country.

Fools, you expect everybody to be sycophant and sing your praises all the time. The right to freedom of speech is never absolute in any country, Okey's ordeal is a wake-up call to him, and you Sahara Reporters to refrain henceforth from spreading frivolous and unsubstantiated rumours. Thank you!

And the hate for IGBOS is getting ticker by Jonathan and his Ijaws peoples, We Warn you again and again don't under rate Igbos with your mumu Government, otherwise when the wahala will start you and your ijaw fishermen will jump and drunk into the sea.we have been warning you to leave the Igbos alone out of your mess, but you kept a deaf ears, when dog wan die he no dey hear the smell of shit....oh yeah the igbos has been there before in the hands of northerners and survive it. You and your fathers in Ijaw instigated the kidnapping, hijacking, converting and stealing of our igbos fathers properties during the war, up till you have not deemed fit to return them as president! Una done come again???? Haaaa wahala dey sleep inyanga dey go wekma.

Whoever this Sakhos is, he is a certified idiot!!!

LET US WAIT TILL MONDAY WHEN THE SSS WILL HOPEFULLY TELL US WHAT PROF NDIBE HAS DONE BEFORE OUR JUDGMENT. NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW.BEFORE THEN ALL OUR ARGUMENT WILL BE SUBJECTIVE.

I don't need to add any more to the rubbish you posted here but, would i ask you to read what u have written to ur family and explain to them because only them can give you a good answer to the trash you have written on this forum.

You are so right. Right before our collective eyes we are witnessing what long years of mis-education and poor leadership are doing to the people psyche.
As the write-up on the Ndibe's issue had shown there are a lot of so called 'educated' Nigerians who knows not their rights.

Afolabi

Sakhos, you need to read carefully and think deeply on your write up.
You castigate Professor Wole Soyinka for sticking his nose where not wanted. You also failed to see the reason why the issue of Professor Ndibe's passport seizure and summon stirred something in all law abiding nigerians.
It is such myopic thinking and failure to speak up when wrongs are being perpetrated by clowns in government that has caused lawlessness and corruption in our dear land.
Without people like Professors Ndibe and Soyinka awakening our consciousness on a regularly basis we would forever be trampled over and our RIGHTS be violated.
We need to see the word from the trees and analysed issues closely and thoroughly before coming on this forum and castigating individuals who are laying their lives on the line for their fellow man.
Such act is what we need to move Nigeria forward and not cheap point scoring expose.

Professor Ndibe all right thinking people of goodwill and lovers of Nigeria are all with you!

Afolabi

Sakhos, you wasted my time reading your rant on Wole Soyinka being wrong again. At the end, I regretted why I set out to read your comment. You could not provide any detail on why Okey Ndibe was detained. That you were whisked about in some airports in Europe and Nigeria is not any reason why Okey Ndibe must receive same treatment. It depends on your appearance and the profile security agents must have built about you before hand.

Ndibe has never been looking for any cheap popularity through his writings. If at all you had been reading him, he merely calls a spade by its name regarding condemning corrupt leaders who cannot fend for their subjects. Without the pens of the Ndibes in Nigeria's media, perhaps the Sakhos of this world could not have had room to make the senseleess comment above. Without the Soyinkas, the Sakhos should have been riggling under the jackboots of dictators today. Sakhos must learn to respect those with superior intellect than his.
We do not need to wait for government to invent any false charges against Okey Ndibe.

If a citizen is arrested the reasons for the arrest should be clearly stated in a press conference. Transparency as its done in the western world is the way to go. By the way I think you are one of those people seeking to make a name by bashing icons

All these speculations by voodoo bloggers on what may have informed the detention of Okey Ndibe by the Nigerian Waffen-SS at the SS Führungshauptamt goes to give credence to why people like the respected Kongi are complaining,if the harassment is genuine,why till this very moment do we not know what his offences are?

You are a fool.

Okey, I do sympathize with you over your ordeal, but I think, this is to remind you and your likes that right to freedom of speech, and expression is never absolute in any country. It is never enough for you to hide in your New York enclave and dish out anything with big grammar without taking awareness of the destabilizing effect such may have on the peace and security of our fragile nation.

Instead of screaming blue murder here on Sahara Reporters; I expect you to refrain henceforth from making frivolous and unsubstantiated claims that could tarnish people's image and threaten the relative peace we are enjoying in our country. For example, you were the very person that wrote here that Ojukwu endorsed and is rooting for IBB while it was not so. That was because you were either too bewildered or insensitive to have envisaged the negative effect such unfounded rumour could have on the goodwill the man enjoys among his people.

You and Sahara Reporters are doing a wonderful job, no doubt, but henceforth I expect you guys to censor what you dish out, and eschew sensationalism and also exercise caution when necessary. Your irresponsible onslaught on Professor Emeagwali is still fresh in people's memories (I mean SR). You guys should be reminded that any criticism, no matter how well-intentioned, if it is not constructive, it could incite violence and of course, the onus is on any responsible government to checkmate the source of such reckless criticism.

A Judge in America (your adopted country) recently ordered Twitter to release the information of everybody that is connected with Wiki Leaks, this is to tell you how far countries could go just to protect some information.

Okey, a word they say is enough for the wise. I wonder what would have been your fate if this was the days of Abacha or that you were arrested in countries like Iran or Burma over issues like this. I am one of your fans, but at the same time I expect you not to abuse the right to freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in our constitution because I know you would not do that in your adopted country, U.S.A. Thank you sir!

irokoafrika@yahoo.com

Nigerians like to make much ado about nothing. The law empowers any government to arrest, detain, and interrogate any person whether big or small. And interestingly this applies to you, me, Okey Ndibe, and Owole Soyinka. Even the Governor, speaker of the house or president would also be impeached by the same law, if they are found to have abused power. So, is our learned professor Wole Soyinka who is assumed knows better, telling us that it should be the other way round?

I respect professor. Wole Soyinka as an intellectual giant. He is right on some few things, but, unfortunately he is confused on too many things .This is because he always throws himself into too many things both home and abroad. However, I don’t want to go into details on that, if you want to know more ask Professor Walter Ofonagoro, the Nigeria former information minister.

We all know that what Okey Ndibe has been looking for is just to be recognized, what others may described as cheap publicity and that is why he has been hanging around Prof- Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, even the likes of Orji Kalu, etc. Saharareporters has also given him a good platform to actualize this dream.

Is Wole Wole Soyinka telling the government to abolish SSS, teaching them their job? Or, that they do not have the right to stop and question certain category of people most of whom are his friends?

What has Wole Soyinka said about Atiku`s outburst that he would incite war in Nigeria if he loses the election to Jonathan? What has Soyinka said about Babangida`s inflammatory comments against the current government since he joined this presidential race. They are untouchable, and close old pals. We know his relationship with IBB in those days of his government.

Like many other citizens and travelers, on my way to Germany I have been stopped at the Lagos International airport and questioned by the security agents in 1996. I don’t want to call it Murtala Mohammed international airport, because you don’t name a killer and a coup plotter after such an important public facility. so i prefer calling it Lagos international aiport,and that is what it is. Even June last year it happened to me at the London City Airport on my way to Switzerland. I was stopped and questioned by the UK security agents.
If Okey Ndibe, Wole Soyinka and their clique has no skeleton in their cupboard why are they panicking when the government has not even said a word as to why they are withholding Okey Ndibe`s passport, and ask him to report on Monday for questioning.

Soyinka is trying to influence things before Monday. But as it is, government is a serious thing, so if Okey Ndibe is found to have committed any crime, government must not fail be make him face the wrath of the law period!

By the way I thought Wole Soyinka said he has retired, but he is still holding late-night meetings, actively engaged in Youruba politics, leading his own political party, now it is now convener CITIZEN FORUM, tomorrow who knows what.

I said no humanbeing is a saint!

irokoafrika@yahoo.com

irokoafrika@yahoo.com

Nigerians like to make much ado about nothing. The law empowers any government to arrest, detain, and interrogate any person whether big or small. And interestingly this applies to you, me, Okey Ndibe, and Owole Soyinka. Even the Governor, speaker of the house or president would also be impeached by the same law, if they are found to have abused power. So, is our learned professor Wole Soyinka who is assumed knows better, telling us that it should be the other way round?

I respect professor. Wole Soyinka as an intellectual giant. He is right on some few things, but, unfortunately he is confused on too many things .This is because he always throws himself into too many things both home and abroad. However, I don’t want to go into details on that, if you want to know more ask Professor Walter Ofonagoro, the Nigeria former information minister.

We all know that what Okey Ndibe has been looking for is just to be recognized, what others may described as cheap publicity and that is why he has been hanging around Prof- Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, even the likes of Orji Kalu, etc. Saharareporters has also given him a good platform to actualize this dream.

Is Wole Wole Soyinka telling the government to abolish SSS, teaching them their job? Or, that they do not have the right to stop and question certain category of people most of whom are his friends?

What has Wole Soyinka said about Atiku`s outburst that he would incite war in Nigeria if he loses the election to Jonathan? What has Soyinka said about Babangida`s inflammatory comments against the current government since he joined this presidential race. They are untouchable, and close old pals. We know his relationship with IBB in those days of his government.

Like many other citizens and travelers, on my way to Germany I have been stopped at the Lagos International airport and questioned by the security agents in 1996. I don’t want to call it Murtala Mohammed international airport, because you don’t name a killer and a coup plotter after such an important public facility. so i prefer calling it Lagos international aiport,and that is what it is. Even June last year it happened to me at the London City Airport on my way to Switzerland. I was stopped and questioned by the UK security agents.
If Okey Ndibe, Wole Soyinka and their clique has no skeleton in their cupboard why are they panicking when the government has not even said a word as to why they are withholding Okey Ndibe`s passport, and ask him to report on Monday for questioning.

Soyinka is trying to influence things before Monday. But as it is, government is a serious thing, so if Okey Ndibe is found to have committed any crime, government must not fail be make him face the wrath of the law period!

By the way I thought Wole Soyinka said he has retired, but he is still holding late-night meetings, actively engaged in Youruba politics, leading his own political party, now it is now convener CITIZEN FORUM, tomorrow who knows what.

I said no humanbeing is a saint!

irokoafrika@yahoo.com

What are we talking about here? It´s NOT unusual to interrogate anyone, if the State security outfit deems it fit. It happens all over the world, in the most democratic of countries. The man was NOT brutalized or maltreated in any manner.

According to Ndibe himself, he was only "BRIEFLY" questioned and then let go. We have to wait for the details! We have to know WHY he was interrogated. No need to jump into weird conclusions at this point.

The number one question should be why Mr. Ndibe was arrested and why his passport was seized. If he did something wrong, which should be in a warrant, then I would advocate his arrest and due process as provided in our constitution. But, what is the probable cause here? That is what the SSS, and the Attorney General, should make public. Otherwise, this seems like a kidnapping.

 IS THERE ANYTHING CALLED FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN NIGERIA? YOU GUYS SHOULD ADDRESS THE TRUTH!!! NIGERIA IS NOT AMERICA. YOU CAN'T SAY SILLY THINGS AND GO AWAY WITH IT. WHEN THE FORMER VP ATIKU SAID THE COMING ELECTION WILL BE BLOODY, THERE WAS CONDEMNATION FROM EVERY ANGLE. WHO IS PROF. NDIBE THAT HE CAN NOT BE QUESTION? IF ITS ORDINARY CITIZEN THAT WAS INVOLVED NO BODY WILL WRITE A SENTENCE. LET THE SSS GO ABOUT IT IN A LAWFUL AND CIVILIZED MANNER. AND SR SHOULD WATCH WHAT THEY PUBLISH. WHY MUST YOU SAY JONATHAN GOVERNMENT? WHY NOT SSS.  LET THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PASS THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH BILL THEN YOU CAN SAY WHAT EVER YOU WANT TO SAY.

@OC:
The "State" as an institution, arrangement, of people for the generation of social synergy and the "Government", as an agency, facilitator, of State business, must not be confused.Social criticism of the Government, such as Prof Ndibe occasionally executes, is patriotic part of democracy; helping the Government to keep the interest of the State in mind, as against the preferences officials . We must not confuse "National Security"; security of nationals of a State, with Government Security, even when the Government acts against the interest of the State.Unless somebody has more information than can be gleaned from Okey's public write-ups, some people might end up doing more disservice to the Government than good. This might end up back-firing on all concerned; because they are operating above their competence; confusing State Good with Governmental Happiness. Picking polemic 'wrestle' with Prof Soyinka is, of course, totally useless; you might find yourself worsted, at last, because of abbreviated understanding of 'institutions', to start with

I am a bit confused here. I am sure they are the Secret service for a good reason. I am not casting aspersions on Prof Okey Ndibe's character but no one is a saint. If they have a good reason to question him and hold his passport for the maximum time acceptable by law, then they should.
No one knows why. Let's stop playing the "victimised" card. What if there is real cause for concern? Does that mean the government for fear of outcry shouldn't act because he criticises them? Let the SSS do what they have to do and woe upon them if the Professor is a victim of his beliefs

"Anyway www.Icheoku.com joins the call for the authorities in Abuja to release Professor Okey Ndibe forthwith...."

Lol! Okey Ndibe is probably enjoying a good plate of peppersoup in some Lagos joint right now.

Abeg take am easy - aluta has not yet begun. Let's first hear why the man's passports were seized.

Your name sounds ibo but I can assure you you are not one for No ibo guy/person can speak in the form you have to anyone and NEVER against Prof Wole Soyinka.

I have always said there is a behaviour prevalent here whereby some characters take on ibo names and identity to create more ibo hatred. I have taken time to observe it here. Can anyone tell me why any ibo gentleman can attack Prof Wole Soyinka and more so in the form this so called John Chukwu has done atccking him when the Prof was only condenming an act done againt the spirit of Democracy and more so againt a journalist who is ibo......please I am highlighting this very fact to draw attention to the prescence of some commentors here who have other designs other than issue before them

All that you have written come from a very wicked , bad heart and spirit.
Your words show you is a complete fool. I have never called anyone a fool but in you I have seen one for writing the way you have done on this issue particularly the irrational way you have choasen to address this noble man.
I think also you are not educated otherwise you would have had factsand education enough to stop this outpouring of darkness and wickedness.

Indeed as someone pointed out already. You do not straight away blame Obama if the security services detain you on entry to a US airport!

We need more details on this issue before judging one way or the other.