Soyinka: ‘I’ll give my assessment of Tinubu after 1 year’

By Ismail Abdulaziz
Lagos, Dec. 24, 2023

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says his assessment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration will come after one year in office.

He stated this in Lagos while fielding questions from State House Correspondents on Sunday after a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu.

Soyinka said that this had been his tradition with Tinubu’s predecessors over the years.

“We met last five years ago and it was an embarrassing visit because I went to tell him not to run for office. I told him and Atiku to leave the stage for young people. I call him “olori kunkun” which means the stubborn one. He ignored my advice completely.

“I came to see him to find out how he is doing after neglecting my advice. I wanted to see how he and his wife are faring. I also came to wish them a merry Christmas.

“You know we are old friends. And it was as a friend that I told him ‘don’t run,” he said.

The Nobel Laureate said that he presented a seven-point agenda to the President towards moving the country forward “in these trying periods”.

He said he would not want to disclose what he presented, but added that a critical aspect was that of respect for the rule of law and adherence to the constitution of the land.

Soyinka added that the discussion also centred on the release of various Nigerians languishing in prison for standing on some personal principles.

He added that he is optimistic that something positive would be done about the incarceration of prisoners of conscience across the country.

Soyinka said he is aware that the President may not be in the know of such cases due to the bureaucracy involved in governance.

“That is the reason behind making this request; that is the way to get results for legal breaches,” he said.