Coronavirus Lockdown: Write Plays on Pandemic Later, Presidency to Soyinka

Following the comments of the Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, that faulted the lockdown order of the Federal Government that Nigeria is not in a “war emergency”, the Presidency has reacted. It said the playwright had no specialty in medicine and should instead focus on writing a play on the pandemic after the emergency is over.

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In a statement signed on Wednesday night by Garba Shehu, a media aide to the President, the presidency re-emphasised that the 14-day lockdown is in the interest of Nigerians. The president’s spokesman advised Nigerians to trust science and not fiction.

He said, “Professor Soyinka is not a medical professor. His qualifications are in English literature, and his prizes are for writing books and plays for theatres. Across the world, mandated lockdowns are in place to slow and defeat the spread of coronavirus.

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“The Government’s primary duty in law and action is the defence of the people of Nigeria. We face a global pandemic. Nigeria is now affected. The scientific and medical guidance the world over is clear: the way to defeat the virus is to halt its spread through limitation of movement of people.

“Professor Soyinka has also declared, doubtless based on his specialism as a playwright, that: ‘We are not in a war emergency.’ However, eminent scientists say otherwise: “Dr Richard Hatchett, Head of the International Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (and former Director of the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) has said, ‘War is an appropriate analogy’.

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“Professor Anthony Fauci, Director of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force has said of the battle against the pandemic: ‘It’s almost like the fog of war’.

“Perhaps, Wole Soyinka may write a play on the coronavirus pandemic, after this emergency is over. In the meantime, we ask the people of Nigeria to trust the words of our doctors and scientists – and not fiction writers – at this time of national crisis.”

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