Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, shared his views on the statements made by the Vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Datti Baba-Ahmed concerning the swearing in of President-Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Prof. Soyinka condemned the LP vice presidential candidate for making statements that he deemed menacing and could incite national discord in an interview with Channels TV’s Seun Okinbaloya on the programme, Politics Today.
“I never heard anyone threaten the judiciary the way I heard Dattti speaking. Blackmailing attitude. Do or die provocation is not what we are struggling for.”
According to the laureate, “Datti kept saying the Supreme Court better give his interpretation. This is trying to dictate to the supreme arbiter of the nation.
“I mean, it is an institution we all revert to, if not today, then tomorrow. If not this election, then the next election. But Datti kept saying ‘No, the supreme court in its wisdom, has to agree with me’. That is what is known as fascistic language; it is not acceptable.”
Soyinka continued: “His comments were unbecoming, a threat to the judiciary. It is a fascist language which alienates the people. It is unacceptable and I refuse to be a part of it,” he added.
During the interview, Soyinka also accused the media of jeopardising public discourse by taking a stance in reporting political matters rather than objectively putting out news for public analysis, especially regarding the statements made by the vice presidential candidate.
He further stated that the comments were alienating the supporters of the party and fanning the flames of fascism in politics.
Soyinka also condemned the attacks on non-indigenes in various states where violence broke out during the presidential and gubernatorial elections. He described it as disgraceful and shameful.
Professor Soyinka said prior to the elections, he had proposed that the established candidates make way for infusion of a younger generation into politics so as to allow “fresh blood” and bring in new and revived thinking for the betterment of the nation.
He clarified the type of structure he would like the Nigerian federation to operate, saying it’s decentralization that will allow each of the various arms down to the grassroot level perform their duties independently.
He cited the example of the recent incident where some state governments like Lagos, Ondo and Kaduna opposed the federal government on the currency swap, and told their citizens to keep using the old notes.
Soyinka said that’s an example of the decentralisation of powers he would like to see.
