Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has appealed to the Nigerian government to hold positive negotiations with the Niger Delta militants in order to solve the crisis in the region.
Soyinka said this on Thursday at a press conference in Lagos.
Soyinka also clarified that media reports stating that he was part of an international group mediating between the Nigerian government and the Niger Delta militants was an “extreme invention”.
“I wish to make an appeal publicly to the government, and please report me accurately, to respond positively to the outrage from the militant groups,” he said.
“That is the request which has been made by some of the groups who got me into this interventionist role in the first place. At the moment they feel that the government of President Buhari is not seriously responding to their own outrage. And I wish to make a personal appeal to the government to respond positively and let us see where it ends us.
“But I’m not part of any international group, I was approached personally and I’ve been responding personally to some of these groups just as I did when President Jonathan was in power and MEND was the umbrella group of the insurgents.
“So I make that appeal once more to the government, please respond to the efforts of these militant groups to arrive at a holistic and comprehensive solution.
“Please don’t attribute to me things I never said.”