He undoubtedly rejoiced when a certain person in Lagos encouraged non-indigenous people to vote for a specific political party or risk being deported to their country of origin, and he never denounced it.
The Labour Party criticised Prof. Wole Soyinka’s remark, which accused the party of trying to trick Nigerians into thinking that Peter Obi, its presidential candidate, won the February 25 poll.
According to reports, Soyinka claimed on Wednesday that LP continued to play “Gbajue” (to force a falsehood) on Nigerians, particularly the younger generation, while knowing that Obi finished third in the hotly disputed election.
Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary for the LP, however, accused the Nobel laureate of having a double personality in a statement on Thursday. He claimed that given how highly regarded Soyinka is as a statesman who has been “detribalized,” his statement was unexpected.
According to the statement, “We will not claim selective amnesia as the cause of Soyinka’s incorrect prognosis, but we would have expected him to be a statesman, which we thought he was by erring on the side of caution and not displaying the dual character of someone who may be blinded by some chauvinistic tendencies.”
However, we are aware that Soyinka lives in Lagos State and was present on February 25, the day when Nigerian elections were place. He undoubtedly gleefully observed when someone in Lagos threatened to deport non-indigenous people if they didn’t vote for a specific political party, but he never condemned it.
“He was present when attackers seized ballot boxes from a voting place in front of his house, but he said nothing about it. We’re still trying to figure out where he spoke out against the unprovoked attacks on our supporters in Lagos by APC members during the previous elections.
See the full statement issued by LP below:
SOYINKA: Statesmen Are Not Double-Faced, Not Blind To Truth
The Labour Party took note of the statement that emanated from the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, whom, as an institution, we have the utmost respect for. He is a Nigerian whose accomplishments in the literary world are without doubt intimidating.
However, we beg to disagree with his prognosis and personal opinion on the performance of our party during the 2023 general elections. The facts are before the courts, and out of respect for our judiciary, we will reserve our comments until the Supreme Court makes a final pronouncement.
We understand that the literary giant is human and thus susceptible to emotions, and he probably said what he said based on information made available to him by those who share the ‘Emilokan sentiment’.
In Yoruba, ‘Gbajue’ refers to fraudulent activities like age, name, or certificate forgery, 419, or narcotics trafficking, all of which are issues in the 2023 elections but not on the Labour Party’s part.
‘Gbajue’ in Yoruba also literally means ‘slap him/her in the face.’ Have all Nigerians not been slapped sufficiently in the face? Thanks to this man of letters for bringing this out, albeit indirectly. It’s rather interesting that the erudite Prof. Soyinka, who owned up to having an electoral “monitoring unit,” conveniently glossed over INEC’s legerdemain leading to substantial non-compliance and erosion of constitutional dictates, just as he conveniently glossed over INEC’s advanced ‘gbajue’ of February 25 that has surreptitiously installed the King of ‘gbajue’ in Aso Rock.
It is most befuddling as well as disconcerting that a detribalized and activist Soyinka would succumb to the groupthink syndrome that subscribes to state capture by those belonging to the criminal fringe by any means, based on primordial considerations.
We really appreciate him for at least giving some credit to the Labour Party and its presidential candidate for breaking the monopoly of power hitherto held by the two other parties. We also noted his admission of his willingness to be part of a demonstration that would be based on the banner of truth.
However, we are aware that Soyinka resides in Lagos State, and he was in Nigeria on February 25, when elections were held in Nigeria. He probably watched with glee when a certain individual in Lagos warned non-indigenes to vote for a particular political party or risk being deported to their place of birth, and he never condemned it. He was there when ballot boxes were snatched by thugs in a polling booth right in front of his house, and he didn’t condemn it. We are still looking for where he came out to condemn the unprovoked attacks on our supporters in Lagos by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, during the last elections.
The whole world followed the 2023 general election in Nigeria, and there was a global condemnation of not only the outcome of the election but also the process, particularly the ‘glitching’ incidence that occurred only during the transmission of the presidential result to IREV. As someone who is known to demonstrate based on truth, we didn’t hear as much as a whisper from Kongi reminding INEC to stand by its word.
He also watched when the Labour Party provided evidence of several defaced result sheets permitted and uploaded to the IREV by INEC, particularly in places where the Labour Party won; again, the great Soyinka was astonishingly mute.
We will not allege selective amnesia as the reason for Soyinka’s wrong prognosis, but we would have expected him to be a statesman, which we thought he was by remaining on the side of caution and not exhibiting the dual character of someone who may be blinded by some chauvinistic tendencies.
We would rather keep our impressions of his recent dual personalities with us. We want to also let him know that building a new Nigeria is a dream whose time has come, and Nigerian youths will not relent until such a dream is realised.
SIGN
Obiora Ifoh
National Publicity Secretary
Labour Party
14-09-2023
