August 03, (THEWILL) – Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has defended one of the phrases ‘blood for blood’, used by National Association of Seadogs, otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity, noting that the expression means blood donation to save lives as against the public beliefs that the statement meant blood-thirst.
Soyinka stated this at his 26th Annual Lecture Series, organised by members of the National Association of Seadogs (NAS), to mark his 90th birthday, held on Friday, at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, with the unveiling of a book ‘Ship Ahoy’ to document the historical years of the confraternity.
He lamented that the virtues and the principles upon which the association was established had been soiled by the misconception the public had on NAS as a secret cult, as exemplified by mimic cult groups like Daughters of Jezebels, among others, whose activities did not align with the association but wanted to imitate because they were not allowed into the group.
The literary icon, who insisted that NAS was not a secret cult group, said that he and six others established the association at the University of Ibadan in 1952, to fight against corruption and injustice meted out to some students at the institutions, expressing sadness that the expression ‘blood for blood’ was misconstrued as bloodthirst by members of the public who did not know the origin of the word by the members.
At the event where a former Governor of Lagos State and a two-time Minister for Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, spoke on the theme ”The Baby or Bathwater: Navigating the Dark Tunnels of Systemic Corruption to Nationhood,” Soyinka described corruption as a cancer worm that had eaten into the fabric of society, saying it could only be cured from the inside.
He wondered why society could not see the positive aspects of the association on the need for blood donation, fighting corruption, and inhuman acts meted out on people by authorities, but only viewed it negatively as a cult group, as he saluted the courage of the members, who were butchered and tortured because they belong to the confraternity.
The Nobel Laureate, also, urged media practitioners to look into the difference between the words cult and confraternity, saying that finding the difference between the two words by the media men would help the public differentiate between the two words so as to separate the activities of NAS from cult groups in the country.
He said, “Many people didn’t even understand expressions but I cannot blame them because they were not on campus, many people when they hear the expression ‘blood for blood’ they think it is bloodthirst, no, how did that phrase begin, how did it originate. It originated with the introduction of blood donation in this country and on university campuses, and then the call was donate blood, donate for Captain Blood and by the time it came out under the mimic organisations, it was ‘blood for blood, blood… blood… blood.’
“So, so many phrases, unbelievable phrases that is why I am happy that the book had been published. I refused to contribute to it, I said no, I said this is your book, this is not Wole Soyinka influencing any publication with his big grammar. Go and write it in your own simple language, and over the years, they worked at it and brought out this one. Anybody who after this still says you are a secret cult, tell them ‘yes, please come and join us secretly.’
“And I wish to congratulate those who kept the flag flying. I wish to state this opportunity, this opportunity to let us always remember those who paid the supreme price for being members of this organisation, those who are butchered, needlessly, pointlessly, those who are tortured because they happened to look like Wole Soyinka, or they happened to belong to this organisation of Wole Soyinka.”
“There have been so many misconceptions, really painful misconceptions because some of those misconceptions are a reflection of the society, its educational policies, and the effect on generations. Just one example, how many people know the difference between a confraternity and a cult? How many people have been brainwashed into believing that when they hear the expression secret cult they are talking about Confraternity?
“The media also has a responsibility in this respect. That refusal to be precise on the useful of language. I don’t know how pyrates have suffered on account of belonging to an organisation which was lighthearted and at the same time a serious-minded organisation which never took itself too seriously even when it was committing itself body and soul to correcting the ills of the society which had its origin at the University of Ibadan.
“I salute the Pyrates Confraternity for coming through spikes, and I am talking about all kinds of cannons that have been levelled and fired at the organisation, not merely by security institutions but also by mimic organisations, who because they could not belong, began to imitate but could not emulate the virtues, the seriousness, the purpose of the Pyrates Confraternity even some were called Daughters of Jezebels”, he added.
Fashola, while speaking on corruption, said that the menace had taken away the values and morals of people which in turn corrupt their way of life, insisting that corruption in road safety and among road users had led to the loss of lives on Nigerian roads, especially the highways, as he advocated for a road safety curriculum in schools.
“While this is a major cause of concern in every part of the world, it has the capacity to take attention away from the more insidious types of corruption, the corruption that corrupts values and corrupts a way of life that in my view is much more insidious and difficult to replace. Money and its losses can be quantified, but when values are damaged and lost, they are very, very difficult to rebuild”, he said.
The Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, while unveiling the book, stated that one of the pillars on which NAS was founded was to tackle corruption in the school and the society, saying corruption had killed values in people.
“The founding philosophy of the National Association of Seadogs is that corruption is not just the pecuniary side of corruption but essentially the corruption of values that breeds all sorts of symptoms of a corrupt society that we see”, he noted.
NAS’ Capt. Mr Abiola Owoaje, congratulated Soyinka on his 90th birthday, describing corruption “as a hydra-headed monster ravaging the country and depriving the people of a better life. Curiously, efforts by the relevant agencies to stamp out corruption have been futile.
