From NADECO to other organizations that fought hardly for democracy: the government of the people, the name Wole Soyinka will forever ring bells. I may have to put reality to our esteemed professor and Noble Laureate’s face that it is high time he docked and berthed his LIVER on his BILE and let go such polemic attributes. He came, saw and conquered and what more can he ask for that he has not gotten before. It seems Professor Wole Soyinka failed to realize that Nigeria is a geographical expression and someone’s hero may be another person belly-laugh and it is time to channel time and energy to fight for Yoruba Autonomy or outright division than trying to insult hero of other people. As the Yoruba would say, akuko wa lo fi ogbe ori e fun kolokolo je – our cockerel volunteered its flaming crown for the scared fox to feel and see that it is nothing but flesh! That is why a stark illiterate son of a late dictator tongue-lashes at Great One and Only African Continent Noble Laureate in Literature. Wole Soyinka that I know, has no equal in Africa besides his shadow that gives me a chase for his fame and money, when it comes to literature in Africa. I know many may opt that “My Village Writer Is The Best In Africa.” That sounds cool with me, as everybody is entitled to his or her opinions but “Noble Laureate Certificate” is there to speak for him. On a lighter note though, Professor Wole Soyinka cannot focus his criticism on just late General Sanni Abacha alone to the exclusion of Gowon, Babaginda, Buhari and Obasanjo as they are all birds of the same feather! Let it not be forgotten that late military despot Sanni Abacha, hitherto regarded as Nigerias most prolific embezzler of state funds, deserves nothing to be honored, despite some of his stolen filthy lucre is yet to be recovered. I equally feel cringed too to hear he was honored despite all his wrongdoings, but we should never forget that anything happens in Nigeria. During the dark days of the Abacha military dictatorship in the early 1990s, Wole Soyinka founded Radio Kudirat, one of the few voices of dissent available within Nigeria at the time. At grave personal risk a younger and brasher Wole Soyinka had decades earlier held up a radio station broadcast booth with a toy pistol so that the truth about a rigged election could not be suppressed by the powers that were at the time. In the intervening years Wole Soyinkas writing has repeatedly placed himself in the gun-sights of state police teams and hit squads alike, on account of his consistent stand against the oppression of Nigerias forgotten people - the poor. As a consequence of his fight for the common good, Kongi, as he fondly calls, had seen the darkest corners of the Nigerian prison system, but emerged strengthened from each incarceration and more determined to speak the truth without fear. The ever articulate, absolutely de-tribalized, has a firm grasp of the history behind Nigeria. Professor Wole Soyinka, please forgive and forget about Abacha’s iniquities and put everything behind you.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 23:39:08 +0000
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