Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has said he does not like the sound of a Yoruba or Igbo nation and would prefer an improvement of what we have.

The Nobel Laureate made his point on Monday, during an interview with BBC.

He was asked to take a stand on the creation of a Yoruba Nation, being canvassed by Sunday Igboho and other Yoruba groups.

” I don’t like the sound of a Yoruba Nation any more than I like the sound of a Tiv nation, Igbo Nation, Itsekiri Nation.

“No. The reason is this: there are certain pejorative overtones attached to it. That is not the issue. Take the Yoruba Nation for instance. Are we talking about the creation of a Yoruba nation within Nigeria only or across the colonial borders into the Republic of Benin where Yorubas exist, Togo, and Ivory Coast where we have communities of Yoruba nation?

“I have to understand exactly what it means. We even talk about Yoruba in the diaspora or not. It is a question for me not to answer at this moment. All I know is this, and on a sentimental level and you know sentiments are not objective reasoning. So yes I’d prefer us to try and mend and manage what we have but under certain rigorous conditions.

“The condition is decentralization. We have to move away completely from this constitution imposed by the military. If it was working, that position might be different. We have to get away from the present political arrangement because they are not working.

While reacting to the kidnap of Nnamdi Kanu, Wole Soyinka said that the government should prepare itself because there would be a hostile reaction by the people when the truth comes out about how Nnamdi Kanu was arrested.

“It is not for me to tell the government to prepare because there will be a loud quack when the truth comes out about Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest. So that is one face of whether Nigeria has acted outside international laws.

“The second issue has to do with Kanu’s conduct outside the nation. There has been a level of hate rhetoric which for me has been unfortunate for Kanu outside.

“But for me, hate talks are issues that the law of any nation can judge, so it comes to the issue. Is it right to “quote and unquote” kidnap or you can say intercept as much as you want? But for me, I think Kanu was kidnapped and it is wrong internationally and it is wrong morally.