Soyinka demands public holiday for traditionalists

In light of his 89th birthday festivities, Prof. Wole Soyinka made three requests of the Federal Government on Sunday, including that security services reopen outstanding cases of religious killings and that traditionalists be given a national holiday.

The famed playwright decried the neglect faced by traditionalists in the country, declaring that “we’ve had enough”.

“It’s about time we demanded, on behalf of traditional religions, an annual holiday like Islam and Christianity. We’ve had enough,” he said.

Read Also: Soyinka says OBIDIENTS are ‘being mumu, playing the script of others’

“We’ve had enough of being second-class citizens in this nation. So, equal time, equal space, we demand public holidays. We demand it of state governments, local governments, and the Federal Government. We want an annual public holiday.”

Soyinka also lamented the failure of security officials to prosecute the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings.

His appeal was underpinned by the case of Deborah Samuel, a second-year student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State who was killed on May 12, 2022, over allegations of blasphemy.

The literary icon asked that the files “be opened — beginning with Deborah — on all those who have killed extrajudicially in the name of religion.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now