Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said his generation has failed Nigerians and frustrated the dreams and aspirations of people who had rushed home after studying abroad.

The Nobel laureate said he believes that the salvation of Nigeria lies in the hand of the young with fresh vision and are not compromised.

Soyinka said this while speaking on a BBC programme, “Hard Talk” anchored by Zeinab Badawi.

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Soyinka also said that the mantle of leadership will fit youths who feel ashamed of what Nigeria is today and are not complacent.

Soyinka said: “Yes, I believe so. “I compare today with dreams and aspirations we had when we all rushed home after studies abroad. We considered ourselves the renaissance people that are going to lift the continent to world standards, competitors anywhere. It hasn’t happened.

Asked if he believes that salvation of Nigeria lies in the hand of the young Soyinka said:

“I want us to define young very carefully. Talking about young minds there are some young people who are very old who infact are compromised worse than even the rulers.

“Am talking about those with fresh vision, those who feel ashamed of what Nigeria is today, who are not complacent, who have travelled the world a bit and seen how things are done and achieved in other places and analysed the problem of Nigeria and not contempt to continue with the old method of governance, principles, who get their priorities right.

“When we started encouraging the young people to come out there was one person spearheading the movement, they could have come out with a consensus candidate, but the movement one of the old … hijacked the movement simply because he wanted to be at head of government…”

Speaking about the 2019 presidential election, Soyinka said:

“The 2019 election is one of the most depressing elections we’ve been through. Talking for myself, it wasn’t possible for me to make a choice for the simple reason that both candidates (President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar) both had histories— one immediate, one past —which made one look for alternatives.”