The Presidency has responded in kind to the comments made by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, that faulted the shutdown order of the Federal Government that the country is not in a “war emergency”.

It said the playwright was not trained or had expertise in medicine, but may opt to write a play on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic after the lockdown was over.

In a statement signed on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 by Garba Shehu, a media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidency reiterated that the 14-day shutdown is in the best interest of Nigerians.

The president’s spokesman admonished Nigerians to trust science over 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.

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.

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.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.