Nobel Laureate Soyinka Questions Nigeria's Priorities As Senate Approves Tinubu’s Request to Send Troops to Benin Republic
By: Olufemi Orunsola
Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, has warned that Nigeria’s involvement in Benin represents “another unnecessary military entanglement next door.”
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered that Prof Soyinka made this position known on Tuesday in Lagos while speaking during the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards.
OTN News further reports that Prof Soyinka's criticism came shortly after the Nigerian Senate in Abuja earlier on Tuesday, approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to deploy Nigerian troops to Benin Republic as part of efforts to restore peace and safeguard democratic institutions threatened by an attempted military takeover in the neighbouring West African country.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the approval after lawmakers adopted the request through a voice vote at the committee of the whole.
Meanwhile, the request was not subjected to debate, hence, Akpabio simply put it to a vote, with the majority supporting it before the chamber reverted to plenary.
The approval followed a letter from Tinubu seeking legislative consent in accordance with Section 5(5) of the Nigerian Constitution, which mandates the president to obtain National Assembly authorisation within 14 days of deploying troops. Despite the urgency surrounding the request which arrived only moments before the vote, Nigerian Air Force personnel had already been deployed to Benin to help suppress the coup attempt, an intervention the presidency said was initiated at the request of Beninese authorities. The operation reportedly thwarted the mutiny, and the alleged coup leader, Tigri Pascal, has since been declared wanted.
Shortly after the vote, Akpabio said the Senate’s endorsement would prevent a potential inflow of refugees into Nigeria and help secure the nation’s borders against instability. He described the deployment as a peace mission designed to restore order in Benin and avert security threats that could spill into Nigeria. He added that the Senate would immediately transmit its approval to the president, commending Tinubu for fulfilling the constitutional requirement despite the urgency of the situation.
Similarly, a cross section of Nigerians has expressed varying opinions about Nigeria's Big-Brother-Styled swift intervention in the affairs of the French-speaking West African neighbouring country, with many insisting that since "charity begins at home", the leadership of Nigeria should deploy equal magnitude of speed and military might to wipe out the insecurity ravaging the country.
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