There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

I try as hard as possible not to be pessimistic because I have never thought or believed that creating a Nigerian nation would be easy; I have always known that it was going to be a very tough job. But I never really thought that it would be this tough. And what's going on now, which is a subjection of this potentially great country to a clique of military adventurers and a political class that they have completely corrupted - this is really quite appalling. The suffering that they have unleashed on millions of people is quite intolerable.

I think dialects should be left alone. People should write in whatever dialect they feel they want to write. In the fullness of time, these dialects will sort themselves out.

I prefer to go on trying all kinds of things, not to be told, This is the way it is done.

One would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast.

When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don't just turn it off one day.

When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands.