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  • Why I love traditional religion compared to Christianity, Islam —Soyinka

    Why I love traditional religion compared to Christianity, Islam —Soyinka

    Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has revealed why he is in love with traditional Orisa worshipping to Christianity and Islam.

    He said the deepness of faith in Islam and Christianity doesn’t match that of Orisa worshipping for him, adding that Orisa fascinated him a lot more.

    According to him, Orisa worshipping is one of the African religions that eschews violence and is more creative.

    “I was fortunate to be born in two worlds – the Christian world and traditional Orisa worshippers. My grandfather, until he – poor man – also got converted – he was an Orisa person and a chief, and his (grandfather’s) side (of Orisa) fascinated me a lot more,” the playwright told CNN’s Larry Madowo, during an interview.

    He added, “For me, it (Orisa worshipping) was more artistic, creative, and also more mysterious. I don’t find much of the mysterious in Christianity and even less in Islam and that is for a simple reason that I didn’t grow up in a Muslim environment.

    “Orisa is open, and very ecumenical and that is why these foreign religions were able to penetrate it and even distort the truth. Because of the generosity of this spirit (Orisa), it is not violent. It is one of those African religions which eschew violence.

    “I don’t believe in the Islamic or Christian God and for the adherents of these religions if that makes me an atheist, so I say, I am an atheist. I insisted that all human beings have a certain spiritual core in their being, I believe myself to be a more spirit-sensitive person.”

    The literary icon also revealed that he said he doesn’t like to watch anything adapted from his life or works.

    “Let me put it this way, turning anything in my life into what other people can watch pains me. It makes me extremely uncomfortable. It’s wrong to say it’s terrific, let me just say I’m detached from it.

    “It takes me a while to bring myself to watch me.”

  • Sani Abacha was obsessed with me – Wole Soyinka

    Sani Abacha was obsessed with me – Wole Soyinka

    Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has recalled his experience during the regime of late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.

    In an interview with TheNEWS to mark his 90th birthday, he said the former military president was ‘obsessed’ and ‘mad’ with him.

    “I consider it a bit of a miracle that I managed to survive that period. Because Abacha was mad. He was obsessed. He was really obsessed with me. Many people paid heavy price simply because they were associated with Wole Soyinka, and they were available,” he said.

    Soyinka shared a story about a driver who worked for Abacha and later approached his new boss, asking to meet Soyinka, the person who had given Abacha “such nightmares.” The driver had heard Abacha and his visitor discussing Soyinka and wanted to know the person behind the name that triggered such a strong reaction.

    “A story which I told the other day at The Metropolitan Club in Lagos was one of my favourite stories. A driver who was now working for yet another military officer had worked for Abacha. And he heard the host and the visitor talking about Wole Soyinka. It was the host who told me the story.

    He said, “After the visitor left, the driver went to his new boss and said, ‘excuse me sir, this Wole Soyinka you are talking about, is it the same one who my master used to talk about? Please, just do me one favour. I want to meet him.’ The boss said, Why do you want to meet him? ‘I want to know the person who gave my boss Sani Abacha such nightmares.’ He said, I want to know that person. Because anytime he heard the name Wole Soyinka, he went into a frenzy. Abacha was desperate.”

    Soyinka also revealed that Abacha’s regime set up fake consulates and trading companies to trap and monitor him and others in Atlanta. He revealed that he had to be accompanied by policemen when flying out and returning due to security concerns.

    “One was situated in Bayswater, where I used to stay, not far from where Muhammadu Buhari attempted to kidnap Umaru Dikko in the UK. It was purely to trap, to get hold of us. Several security units of police added us on their watch list. Afterwards, watching for us and for those who they were tracking. I wasn’t the only one.

    “In Atlanta, they set up fake consulate. We fought to make sure that the consulate in Atlanta, where I was teaching at Emory University at the time was not set up. The envelope that passed to some of the city counsellors was heavy. They admitted it. By the way, you know that I am an honorary citizen of the state of Georgia. And so, our American friends told these stories on the day of my investiture about what happened.

    “They eventually succumbed to the pressure to set up that consulate, that fake consulate. And the President of my university insisted— because he got his report from the secret service in the US— he insisted that any time I was flying out, I had to be accompanied by policemen. On returning, they would send the police to come pick me up right at the door of the plane. It was quite touching,” he said.

  • What I will do to Soyinka if he cotinues to attack Obi – Baba-Ahmed

    What I will do to Soyinka if he cotinues to attack Obi – Baba-Ahmed

    The Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP in the 2023 general election, Yusuf Baba-Ahmed has reatced to comments made by Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka to  LP’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

    Soyinka said Obi was unfit to lead the country.

    Baba-Ahmed described Soyinka’s comment as attempted distraction and will only pray for the Nobel Laureate if he continues to attack Obi.

    Recall that Soyinka had said that Obi’s failure to reign on his supporters attacking others with opposing views online was a pointer that he is unfit to lead a country like Nigeria.

    The literary icon also accused Obi of encouraging ‘Obidients’ to attack him and others with opposing views online.

    However, while responding to Soyinka’s comment, Friday, on Arise Television, Baba-Ahmed said what Soyinka was doing was an attempted distraction, adding that he wouldn’t not join issues with him.

    “The learned elder statesman, Prof Wole Soyinka is scared in advance about what good Peter Obi will bring to Nigeria. He’s scared in advance that the end is still looking very likely for his principal, for bad governance.

    “What Wole Soyinka is doing now is an attempted distraction, which I beg you excuse me from joining issues with Wole Soyinka, please.

    “You and I have much better things to do. For all I know, he could continue to throw punches at my principal, at me, as small as I am. If he continues to do that, all I can do is to grieve in my heart and continue to pray for him.

    “You see, intellect doesn’t give you the right to insult anybody. I remember this Soyinka insulting late General Abacha, insulting him to the core that he was daft. Nothing gives him the right to do that. Abacha was not an academic. He was a soldier for God’s sake. And a good soldier in his own way in his own right.

    “I beg you, let’s push Soyinka and his likes aside; we have better things to talk about.

    “Nobel Laureates are loved and cherished by their people. Soyinka keeps getting insulted, and it is his responsibility to maintain his dignity and respect, not Peter Obi’s.

    “I could say a few things to Wole Soyinka that could destroy him for good, but I wouldn’t say that.”

  • Missing Soyinka found dead, eyes plucked out, wrists cut in Ogun

    Missing Soyinka found dead, eyes plucked out, wrists cut in Ogun

    The mutilated body of a missing 12-year-old boy, John Soyinka, was on Monday found in a bush at Kotogbo community in Asero Estate, Abeokuta.

    Soyinka was declared missing a week ago and the matter was reported at the Obantoko Police Station in Abeokuta.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Osun Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the discovery of the dead body to newsmen on Wednesday in Abeokuta.

    Odutola said that the gruesome murder of Soyinka, whose eyes were plucked out and wrists cut off, had changed the case to a homicide.

    She said that the body had been released to the family for burial, adding that investigation was ongoing to unravel perpetrators of the crime

    A resident of the area, who pleaded anonymity, told newsmen that the boy disappeared after he went to see a customer who had done a transaction at a POS shop where the deceased assisted.

    “I know the boy very well. He is about 12 years old and lived with his mother who I guess is no longer with her husband.

    “His mother does menial jobs like helping people to sweep.

    ”What we heard was that, last week Thursday, he said he wanted to check on a customer who did POS transactions, apparently may be there was something to sort out about the transaction, but the boy never came back.

    “The boy and his mother lived at Olasunkanmi community and so the Community Development Association reported the matter to the Divisional Police Officer at Obantoko Station.

    “The DPO informed the police at Adigbe and Lafenwa, but it was the boy’s corpse that was seen at Kotogbo community, just beside Olasunkanmi on Monday.

    “The two communities are inside Asero Estate, Abeokuta. It is suspected to be a case of ritual killing because the boy’s eyes were removed while his wrists were also cut off,” he said.

  • Why Davido should ignore Soyinka on controversial video – Omokri

    Why Davido should ignore Soyinka on controversial video – Omokri

    A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri has urged music sensation, Davido to ignore Professor Wole Soyinka’s advice that he owes no apology to the Muslims over the controversial music video ‘jaye lo’.

    He claimed Soyinka does not believe in God and can’t understand the feeling of those that believe in God.

    Davido came under heavy criticism after sharing a clip of the music video of his signee, Logos Olori’s new single ‘Jaye Lo’ which captured people praying and dancing in front of a mosque on Twitter.

    The singer eventually bowed to pressure and deleted the video but refused to apologise.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Literary icon, Soyinka came to the defense of Davido, saying: “There was nothing to apologize about, and that applied equally to El Rufai’s comments at the time. It should come as no surprise that I equally absolutely disagree with Shehu Sani if indeed, as reported, he has demanded an apology from Davido on behalf of the Moslem community.”

    Reacting to the development, Reno Omokri slammed the Nobel laureate Professor for advising the singer not to tender any apology to the Muslims.

    Omorki wrote: “It would be very unwise for Davido to take the counsel of an atheist like Professor Wole Soyinka, who is telling him he owes no apology to Muslims, over the video for the song jaye lo. This is a man who does not believe in God. How can he then know how people who believe in God feel?

    “Islam belongs to Muslims, who assert that they received it from God. It is not for an atheist or a Christian or any practitioner of another religion other than Islam to tell them how to feel when their faith is used in ways they disapprove of.

    “Is this not the same Professor Wole Soyinka who, just two weeks ago, on July 7, 2023, condemned the Emir of Ilorin for stopping an Osun priestess, Yeye Ajesikemi Omolara, from holding an Isese festival in Ilorin, and demanded redress for Osun worshippers? So, why is he now against redress for Muslims?

    “Nigerians need to remember that this is the same Wole Soyinka who, on May 8, 2023, boasted that Peter Obi apologised to him in person over the attacks on his person by Obidients. Yet, he is here counselling Davido not to apologise to Muslims over a video they consider sacrilegious.

    “Christians have also previously taken offence with movies and music that, in our view, are sacrilegious about the person of our Lord and Saviour. These include the movies The First Temptation of Christ and The Last Temptation of Christ. We collectively boycotted these movies and demanded an apology and their recall. We were also upset when Mallam Nasir El-Rufai made a crude joke about our Lord and Saviour. How will we feel if a Muslim celebrity comes out to say we do not deserve any apology for those movies and jokes?

    “In Mark 12:31, our Lord told us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Muslims are our neighbours. They joined us in condemning El-Rufai when he made his crude Jesus joke. They united with us in asking him to apologise. Under pressure from both Christians and Muslims, El-Rufai apologised.

    “Deleting the offending video is a first step for which I commend Davido. Apologising will put the matter to an end and assuage the hurt feelings of the Muslim Ummah.

    “An elder should be known for putting out fires, not for adding fuel to flames. We need peaceful religious coexistence in Nigeria. We do not need religious rivalry.

  • I don’t tweet, I don’t WhatsApp – Wole Soyinka

    I don’t tweet, I don’t WhatsApp – Wole Soyinka

    Literary icon and Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka has revealed why he does not use social media as he expressed concern over its negative impact.

    The 88-year-old disclosed this on Friday in Lagos at the unveiling of his latest interventions volume, titled: “The Putin Files,” at Freedom Park Lagos

    Soyinka said the use and gratification of social media over the years had taken humanity backward due to the abuse of technology.

    While stating that he is not a fan of social media, Soyinka said; “I don’t tweet, I don’t WhatsApp. I tried WhatsApp but I stopped.”

    Reading from the book, Soyinka said: “Project Nigeria, I must confess, has become near terminally soul-searing. Do I still believe in it? I am no longer certain, but first we must rid ourselves of the tyranny of the ignorant and the opportunism of time-servers.

    “In any case, there is not much else to engage one on a foundation of ownership stakes. There is, of course, always the possibility of a revolution, with a clarity of purpose and acceptance of all attendant risks, including costly errors.

    “Revolutions are not, however, based on the impetus of speculative power entitlement. No matter, until that moment, the structures that ensures just and equitable cohabitation must be protected from partisan appropriation – be it from material inducement, fake news or verbal terrorism – the last being the contribution of one who is positioned to assume co-leadership of the nation, no less.”

    According to him, the whole concept of democracy needs to be re-examined.

    He added: “Revolution is not about lining up behind nearest available symbol. When a symbol does emerge, however, we are still obliged to examine every aspect of what is fortuitously an offer, and continue to guard our freedoms every inch of the way.”

    He said Putin, as used in his book, is a metaphor and reality, adding: “We can’t be shielded from what is happening.”

    He however described EndSARS as one of the most successful movements in this country because it was based on truth.

  • I’m unable to relate to something known as ‘Obidient’ – Soyinka

    I’m unable to relate to something known as ‘Obidient’ – Soyinka

    Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka has reacted to reports of reconciliation with Obidients after Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi’s visit to his house in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    Soyinka said that there was no issue to reconcile between him and Obi, but refuted any acknowledgement of or relationship with the “Obidient” or “Obidient Family” as Obi’s supporters are known.

    The Obidients verbally attacked the Nobel laureate for describing the LP flag bearer’s running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed’s comment on Channels Television, TV, as fascist.

    Soyinka reacted to media reports which followed Obi’s visit in a statement titled “A visitation, and the allure of ‘reconciliation’”.

    “However, I do not know, and am unable to relate to something known as the ‘Obidient’ or ‘Obidient Family,’ he noted.

    The statement further reads: “Before it gains traction and embarks on a life of its own, I wish to state clearly that the word ‘reconciliation’, inserted into some reports of Peter Obi’s visit to me yesterday, Sunday, May 7, is a most inappropriate, and diversionary invocation.

    “Let me clarify: I know the entity known as Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party. I can relate to him. I know and can relate to the Labour Party on whose platform he contested elections. There are simply no issues to reconcile between those two entities and myself.

    “However, I do not know, and am unable to relate to something known as the ‘Obidient’ or ‘Obidient Family’.

    “Thus, albeit in a different vein, any notion of reconciliation, or even relations – positive, negative or indifferent – with such a spectral emanation is simply grasping at empty air.

    “During that meeting, attended by two other individuals only, the word ‘reconciliation’ was never bruited, neither in itself nor in any other form. It simply did not arise.

    “By contrast, there were expressions of ‘burden of leadership’ ‘responsibility’, ‘apology’, ‘pleading’, ‘formal dissociation from the untenable’, all the way to the ‘tragic ascendancy of ethnic cleavage’, especially under such ironic, untenable circumstances.

    “Discussions were frank and creative. The notion of reconciliation was clearly N/A – Non Applicable. It was never raised.

    “The following should be understood but never underestimated. What remains ineradicable from that weekend of orgiastic rave in social media was the opening up of the dark, putrid recesses in the national psyche that we like to pretend do not exist.

    “It invited – into minds seeking a grasp on reality- gruesome variations on images from Dante’s Purgatorio.

    “A fathomless pit was exposed, at the bottom of which one glimpsed a throng of the damned, writhing in competitive lust for the largest of the gangrenous ladles in a diabolical broth.

    “To peek over the edge of that pit for a prolonged spell was to turn giddy, with a risk of falling into the tureen of inhuman pus.

    “To attempt to navigate one’s way, however gingerly, along a mat spread across the infernal abyss, is an invitation to moral suicide.”

    “For the serious-minded, I call attention to essays I have offered on the theme of Reconciliation based on Truth and the ethical imperative of Restitution.

    “There will be further elaborations forthcoming in DEMOCRACY PRIMER III – Bookcraft’s INTERVENTION series, now brought forward for publication on June 12, the watershed extorted from the current regime as the nation’s Democracy Day,

    “If, from here on, I now comply with entreaties from several valued, genuinely concerned directions, and ignore new provocations, however vile, it is only because I also approve of Mohammed Ali’s strategy of Rope-a-Dope, where blind menace is left flailing hopelessly at the disdainful manifest of Truth.”

  • Soyinka should debate with Chimamanda Adichie – Atiku’s aide

    Soyinka should debate with Chimamanda Adichie – Atiku’s aide

    A spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Daniel Bwala has reacted to the TV debate challenge called by the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka with Datti Baba-Ahmed.

    Bwala said Soyinka was not a politician, hence should challenge Chimamanda not Datti.

    Tweeting, Bwala wrote: “Am told Prof. Soyinka asked to debate Datti. No, he should ask to debate Chimamanda Adichie.

    “Datti is a politician, Soyinka is not, so it will be an unfair debate.

    “But both Soyinka and Chimamanda trade on literature and grammar. #Soyinkadebatechimamanda.

    “When he tries Chimamanda, he will understand the phrase ‘nobody has the monopoly of knowledge’. It will certainly be the case of David v Goliath.”

  • June 12: Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, other activists lay wreath on Abiola’s grave

    Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana and several others on Sunday, gathered to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the death of Chief Moshood Abiola.

    They gathered at his residence in Ikeja, Lagos for a wreath-laying ceremony even as they expressed concerns about the state of the nation.

    The late Chief Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, died on July 7, 1998, after spending years in detention in the fight for his mandate and for Nigeria’s return to democracy.

    Soyinka, as well as some others present at the ceremony, while paying tribute to Abiola lamented that Nigeria has not achieved his vision and Nigerians were still battling poverty and injustice among other things.

    The Nobel Laureate, who has repeatedly called for decisive action to combat insecurity in the country, drew attention to the rate of poverty in the country.

    “I am afraid. Just looking at the level of poverty scares me. I am afraid for this nation,” he said.

    “For the first time, in a very deep, visceral way, I really am afraid for this country.”

    Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, recalled Abiola’s vision of the nation and called for unity.

    He said, “Abiola stood for justice for all. Abiola’s mandate was a reflection of the popular will of the people. That mandate, that election defied ethnicity, religion or any other primordial consideration.

    “Therefore, if we want to recognise June 12, if we want to celebrate Abiola, we must celebrate the unity of our people and not the disunity of our country”.

  • Bola Ige: Ask your brother, Obasanjo who killed him – Omisore bombs Soyinka

    Bola Ige: Ask your brother, Obasanjo who killed him – Omisore bombs Soyinka

    Apparently Peeved by comments made by Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka on his alleged role in the death of former Power Minister, Bola Ige, Iyiola Omisore on Sunday described Soyinka as a naive and confused Nigerian.

    Soyinka fired the first salvo in a statement on Saturday when he said Omisore’s endorsement as APC Secretary by President Muhammadu Buhari would tamper with judicial inquiries into Ige’s death because he is a prime suspect in the murder case.

    The Nobel Laureate in the statement titled, “Perhaps closed files should remain just that – Closed?” Soyinka said with the election of the prime suspect in the murder of the late Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, as National Secretary of the ruling party, the investigative revisit promised by President Muhammadu Buhari is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility.

    “I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge,” Soyinka said.

    Replying Soyinka, Omisore accused him of hypocrisy, saying he should ask his cousin, former President Olusegun Obasanjo what happened to his Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.

    Insisting that he was not a member of cabinet in Obasanjo’s government, Omisore said, “Civil and criminal law knowledge should tell professor to ask his cousin, OBJ for the murder.”

    Omisore said Soyinka does not stand on any high moral ground when it comes to crime against state, reminding the Nobel Laureate that, “It is part of history and we are not too young, when we read of him, that professor too carried a gun into a Radio station; a criminal offense against the state. Yet, we continue to honour him.”

    Omisore also said Soyinka is not as saintly as he claims to be, adding, “Can we also forget that Prof was appointed the chairman of education summit that gave birth to a single uniform for all secondary and primary schools and Opon Imo, during the tenure of Rauf Aregesola as governor of Osun State. A failed Education Policy that history will not readily forget.”

    Accusing people he described as “drowning politicians” of spreading propaganda against him, Omisore, a former deputy governor of Osun State, said it was curious that Soyinka, who accused the Obasanjo government of complicity in Ige’s death when he described the government “as a nest of killers”, could now describe him as a suspect in 2022.

    Taking exception to the eminent scholar’s statement, Omisore said “it is an unnecessary propaganda some drowning politicians are trying to spread.”

    The National Secretary also threatened to sue a political group in Osun APC for fabrication and defamation.

    In a statement by his office, Omisore said: “If the court of the land has vindicated a man, it is naive of him after nearly a decade to link Senator Iyiola Omisore to further search.”

    He added: “The world is aware of the framing of Senator Iyiola Omisore and his travails and trials facing murder charges and his subsequent acquittal and discharge, almost a decade ago by a competent court of the land.

    “So, how come any man, can still refer to him as a possible suspect? The Prof is very wrong to say all that. It takes wickedness to spread the statements.”

    Omisore alleged that despite the fact that not all Soyinka’s intervention in national life has produced the expected outcome in the long run, society has continued to hold him in esteem.

    “So, at 88, it’s better for him to stay clear of politics and not allow drowning politicians to use him to fight a cause he knows nothing about. It is a subtle warning to the respected Nobel Laureate.”

    Omisore recalled that in 2004, Soyinka, who was 70, accused the Obasanjo government of complicity in the death of Ige by referring to the government as a “nest of killers”

    He lamented that, in April, 2022, the Nobel Laureate, who is now 88, is complaining about his choice as National Secretary.

    He also regretted that Soyinka, once attacked another Yoruba son, Gbenga Daniel, an engineer and former two-term governor of his native Ogun State.

    Omisore lamented that a decade after the Bola Ige murder case, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka still referred to him as a prime suspect, despite being cleared by the court.

    He maintained that the record shows that he and others were tried for two and half years and later discharged and acquitted by the court.

    Omisore said: “The recent volte face of Soyinka on the Bola Ige matter gives one a cause for concern. First, I was not a member of cabinet in Obasanjo’s government and second, a court of competent jurisdiction had set me and others free after a grueling two and half years trial with N2 billion damages awarded still unpaid by the state government.

    “Besides, why has Omisore/Bola Ige matter become an issue of campaigns and elections deliberately used by Omisore’s opponents to undermine his influence?

    “Or, are some people who are worried by the erudite and strong personality and capacity of Omisore as National Secretary using Soyinka to settle scores or pursue their political ambitions?

    “Politics is a game and an avenue to serve and the Nobel Laureate can throw his hat in the ring if he so wishes instead of making unsubstantiated claims and causing confusion here and there, acts, that don’t befit his international recognition as an elder and statesman.”