The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), a civil rights advocacy group, slammed Nobel laureate and playwright Prof. Wole Soyinka on Sunday for his criticism of Labour Party vice-presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed.
In a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA demanded that the revered octogenarian quit supporting the oppressors and dictators that he had repeatedly and effusively mocked for more than 50 years in his practically endless novels and plays.
As the election that produced Bola Tinubu on February 25, 2023 is still being aggressively contested in court by the main candidates in the vote, the group emphasised that using legal methods to prevent his inauguration on May 29, 2023, is not improper.
According to HURIWA, the statement made by Peter Obi’s running mate that Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima of the All Progressives Congress are not yet the president-elect of Nigeria and that Chief Justice of the Federation Justice Kayode Ariwoola should not administer the oath of office to them is not improper under the principles of free speech outlined in the Nigerian Constitution and other African and international charters.
Soyinka criticised Baba-Ahmed for his “broadcast diatribe of intimidation” in two comments that were released within a week, along with interviews on Channels Television and Arise TV. He called it “mere antics of the mentally ill.” Soyinka challenged Baba-Ahmed to an in-person interview, which the latter turned down on the basis of cultural and philosophical considerations, declaring that “that aspirant’s supposed blunder cuts no ice with me.”
He also described Obi’s gang of young supporters, known as Obidients, as one of the most revolting, ugly mixtures he had ever witnessed in any political setting.
The dramatist, however, used double-speak when he declared in one breath that Datti and Obi should let the court decide while saying in the next that he was criticising voter suppression that was seen in some polling places in Lagos State during the elections.
In response to a media debate between Soyinka and Datti, HURIWA’s Onwubiko stated, “Prof Soyinka should avoid dancing naked in the market square to maintain his larger-than-life legendary status among the millions of young Nigerians who are the primary victims of the misrule of the corrupt court system and political circle whom Soyinka seems to have sided with.
“There is nothing wrong with criticism and the expression of free opinion, including the claim made by Datti Baba-Ahmed—the subject of a dispute between Soyinka and the former senator and university president—that Nigeria does not have a president-elect.
The reality is that Nigeria doesn’t yet have a president-elect, according to some Nigerians who viewed the integrity of the February 25, 2023 presidential election compromised by the Independent National Election Commission’s manipulation of the results. Although Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC is considered the president-elect by INEC, this is disputed in court.
Nothing about what Datti said is incorrect. In fact, Soyinka’s position lends credence to the theory that even some supposedly educated individuals in 21st-century Nigeria align with fascism, which is symbolised by a tendency to seek to impose restrictions on the expression of opinions, even those that aren’t necessarily hateful but are nonetheless shaped by convictions.
“We demand on Soyinka to cease talking about politics since he frequently supports oppressors and the mass of Nigerians revere him for his numerous novels distilling oppression,”
