Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, says the problems confronting Nigeria are beyond President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Soyinka spoke when he played host to some students who paid him a visit on his 85th birthday.
The literary icon said while state governments differ in success rates, “central government has failed”.
He called on the federal government to shun partisanship and focus on delivering good governance to the Nigerian populace.
He suggested that a national conference be called where a debate on the situation of the country will be discussed.
“The problems of this nation are beyond the solution that can be offered by this government, that’s the first admission; they have to stop thinking in partisan government,” Soyinka said.
“There has always been a major problem with successive governments. It’s easier on the state level to say that a particular state is definitely doing better than another state. But the central government has failed, that’s my view in the main.
“There is a minimal level which any government which has been elected to power must achieve to be considered a true representative of the people.
“Look at what’s happening today with the cattle all over the place, that’s a security issue which should never have reached this level. That singular act has resulted in hundreds of people being killed, farms were taken over; it has wiped away a lot of the positive achievements of the government.
“They need to confront this nation as a habitation of human beings where very serious issues like economy, security, health, even threats of secession come up every day and convoke at the same time, a national conference, what I call an Indaba across all section which we will all meet and debate everything, including the economy of this nation.”