- Claims he will only speak when there’s something to say
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Nonagenarian and Nobel Prize-winning Writer, Professor Wole Soyinka says Nigerians cannot drag or force him to comment on President Bola Tinubu’s administration at will.
According to him, no amount of external pressures would not influence his decision as no one can dictate when he should evaluate the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
Soyinka, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, said his thoughts would only be shared when necessary and there are substantial points to address about government’s service delivery to Nigerians.
He rejected the idea of a fixed timeline to comment, like President Tinubu’s one-year in office, insisting that Nigerians must shun the tendency of trying to impose a timeline on him.
Asserting that he would speak on the government when he deemed it appropriate, the playwright and poet said, “People should stop trying to work on my timetable for me”.
For the Elder statesman, who reaffirmed his independence, the decision to speak on governance under President Tinubu would only come based on personal conviction.
Responding to those reminding him of his previous views about evaluating Tinubu’s leadership after a year in office, which was on May 29, 2024, he joked; “I had not swallowed an alarm clock”.
Soyinka further said during the interview thus; “I don’t see why I should put my alarm on and say: ‘One year has passed, now, I must make an assessment’ if there is nothing I feel like talking about and if I am busy elsewhere.”
During a visit to President Tinubu at his Bourdillon residence in Ikoyi, Lagos on December 24, 2023, Soyinka had claimed that he would withhold his views on the administration, which began on 29th May 2023, until after a full year in office.
He said; “This business of ‘you haven’t come to do this’, I don’t understand it. Other people are doing the same; this is a collective effort. The Falanas speak consistently. The Baiyewus speak consistently. The Sowores come out and try to lead demonstrations. It’s a collective effort.
“The one year is up which means you have a right and I have a responsibility to respond when you call me on certain issues. But if you are saying that I would call a press conference and say: ‘One year is up, let us now make an assessment’.
“The only question I’d ask you is: ‘Did I do that with Jonathan?’ Did I do that with Buhari?’ ‘Did I do that with Obasanjo?’ ‘Did I do that with anybody? So, why is it expected of me?
“All it means is that one year is up. If I am around, and you want to get hold of me, I would speak. That’s all that statement meant.”
With Nigerians facing tough economic times almost two years into the administration, critics have slammed President Tinubu for economic mismanagement, citing record-high inflation and a soaring cost of living nationwide.
