"People are afraid of President Buhari but fear is not enough to stop corruption"

For the past few months, terrible and horrendous things have happened in Nigeria since president Buhari assumed power. First, the 3 hours daily meagre electricity we use to boast of on social media disappeared (no light since march) and long queues at filling stations became the norm.

In the thick of the outrage against what so many Nigerians see as #NoFuckingChange, Elnathan John says Nigeria's entire political system needs to change.

The lawyer turned writer told Guardian UK in an interview that man people are afraid of President Buhari but fear is not enough to stop corruption.

"Corruption is a different matter. It is a changing form with new godfathers, new leaders. Is Muhammadu Buhari a leader that would condone wanton theft? People are afraid of him as a person but fear is not enough to stop corruption. People now are corrupt in hiding. I think the entire political system has to change."

Although, Elnathan’s response might seem patronising a bit but it is also timely considering the number of people that have been bashing the ruling president.

He also spoke on why he abandoned his burgeoning career as a lawyer to face writing.

He said: "I trained as a lawyer and practised general law. Early on, I became disillusioned by the legal system. I’m a restless person. I could not imagine myself spending five years waiting for legal resolutions. I don’t have that kind of attention span. I know of one criminal case here that started in 1988 and only finished last year. There is so much corruption in the system. A bailiff once asked me for money and I complained to my boss: “Why are we giving them money?” She retorted: “Is it your money?” You can buy a judge with a gift… people do. There is so much low-level corruption in the system that it irritated me. And I was bored. Writing called out to me."

And when he was asked if he would ever leave Nigeria, he added: "It is a difficult question. While I deeply love Nigeria, there is an issue of where I need to be. I landed from Jo’burg at 4am this morning – returning from a writer’s retreat in Zambia. I came back to no electricity, and fuel queues. Thankfully, I still had a little fuel in the generator. These little things can seem big. I don’t have an office, I work from home. The politics are draining too. But it is important writers are here, or at least stay in touch with Nigeria, and write the stories that need to be written. No one else will write them for us."

On a side note, Elnathan John recently had a long lovely talk with Ben Okri, let's hope he shares gems from the convo later.

Read the full interview here

READ: 10 awesome books by Black writers you should read in April