Nigeria’s primary problem is religion – Soyinka

The Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday identified religion as Nigeria’s primary problem.

Soyinka, who stated this during a discussion with a professor of African Literature, Dr. Louisa Egbunike, said religion has become an excuse for Nigerians to flout the laws and behave irrationally.

He added that religion was used to subvert the rights of others in the country.

The playwright said: “All over the place, I find that religion has cost too much. And liberty has been taken by religionists, which would not be considered to other movements which are considered secularists.

“If you put on the garb of a religious leader, you can close up the expressway between Lagos and the rest of the nation, simply because you are having a religious celebration.

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“You are just a fraction of the rest of the nation. And you should be accorded no special privileges. So, until that is done, people will always find something extra by belonging and manifesting, even to an extreme extent, your religious adhesions.

“Religion has become the number one problem for Nigerians. Hope is all very well; but hope itself can become putrid, especially if it is hope for unearned advantages in society. If religion becomes an excuse for flouting the law, then that religion has got to be tackled head-on.”

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