Soyinka advocates secular Nigeria

CHAIRMAN of the Black Culture and International Understanding, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has advocated for secularism of the nation.
He maintained that religion should be a private affair that must never be allowed to influence policies of government.
Speaking at a press conference in preparation for a 3-day programme by BCIU tagged: All-Comers Colloquium at the NUJ Press Centre, Osogbo, Soyinka said clerics in the religious circles should stay away from governance.
Speaking through the chairman, Planning Committee of the colloquium, Prof. Wale Adeniran, the Nobel Laureate stated that religious leaders should only pray for those in power and not to be seen participating in governance.
He said: “Religious practices should be based on individuals and should not be brought into public domain to prevent conflict or religious war in governance that will eventually lead to disintegration of the society.
“Many leaders in governance use religion to perpetrate atrocities and use it to manipulate and divide followers to achieve their aims but if every individual practices his/her religion privately there will not be such.
“They use it deliberately to disintegrate and cause confusion in the country and if this is personalised such things will be discouraged”.

Wole Soyinka