I assume Buhari’s administration doesn’t exist to keep my sanity – Soyinka

Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has said he tries to keep his sanity by assuming the Buhari administration does not exist.

Soyinka said this during a recent interview with Kaftan TV while onboard the new Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan standard gauge train.

Asked whether the new train was a plus to the Buhari administration, he said, “I don’t want to talk about Muhammadu Buhari’s 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 playwright said for years Nigeria had seen the roads turn to a death trap while rail transport had been neglected.

He said on two occasions he had spent over six hours on the road from Lagos to Abeokuta.

Speaking highly of the new train, Soyinka said, “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… I think we are looking at a virtual transport revolution which is long overdue.”

The 86-year-old said the rail revival would not only change the people’s mentality but boost commerce.