Renowned Nigerian writer and Africa’s first Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has said he would state his candid observations about the President Bola Tinubu-led government after a year into his tenure.
Prof. Soyinka said it’s a matter of personal principle on his part, to always give a newly elected president some breathing space for a period of one year before proceeding to assess their performance in office.
His words:
“Well, you know, something you may have noticed about me is that most heads of state, when they take office, I always leave them alone for about the first year…because they need time.
“I know when they come in, they don’t start from ground zero. They often start even lower than ground zero and they have to make up.
“So, I’m adopting the same principle this time. When you see me next year, ask the same question again and listen to my answer.”
The political activist paid President Tinubu a visit on Sunday; one he termed as “embarrassing”, because his last visit over five years ago had been to convince the head of state not to run for presidency. However, Tinubu ignored his advise and went ahead to contest.
He also disclosed that he also approached the President with a 7-Point Agenda for deliberation during the courtesy visit.
“Actually, it’s an embarrassing visit because when I visited him the last time, it was to try and persuade him not to run for office. I told Atiku and himself to please leave the ground so young people could run. That’s the last time we met about five years ago.
“I came here with a seven-point agenda. And we had a very thorough discussion on those items.
“So I came to see how he was doing after ignoring my advice. I came to see how both he and his wife were weathering Nigeria, and to wish them a Happy Christmas,” he clarified.
In February this year, Soyinka was trending in the news for endorsing Tinubu for the presidential elections.
However, the playwright distanced himself from the social media post that also labelled presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar “corrupt”, and Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo a “liar”.
“Professor Soyinka did NOT at any time or on any occasion issue such a statement. It is simply the works of peddlers of fake news and falsehood, who profit from Misinformation to gain political advantages.
“The media and members of the public are advised to ignore the message or any other political message that addresses or targets any political party or political actor,” he stated.
Soyinka often describes Tinubu as “an old friend.”