Wole Soyinka, his criticisms, and his critics

Any keen observer of the events that happened before, during, and after the last general elections cannot but notice the untoward conduct of Peter Obi’s supporters on social media.

It is, therefore, not surprising that when Wole Soyinka condemned this act, they disparaged him online.

In Wole Soyinka’s recent comment, he accused the ‘Obidients’ of fascism, said they are one of the most repulsive, off-putting concoctions he ever encountered in any political arena. Earlier, Soyinka on Channels Television and later on Arise TV, condemned what he termed the fascist language of the vice-presidential candidate of the LP, Datti Baba-Ahmed, by attempting to dictate judgment to the Supreme Court during a Channels TV interview on the poll won by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

This is a comment that has earned him a barrage of insults. First, what I find worrisome, however, is the standard of discourse. If we are not to criticize or caution someone when they are treading a destructive path, what does that make of us?

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“If we can not hold our preferred politicians accountable now, then when? Is it after they have power? And, if Obidients jump right past the careful construction of Soyinka’s statement, to misconstrue it as anti-Obi, based on the fact that he holds Datti to account, Isn’t that a worrying indicator of the standards of discourse?” in Ayo Adene’s words.

And then, it is true that while everybody can criticise, not everybody wants to be criticized.

The moral integrity to hold someone accountable through criticism is one thing, the courage to accept criticism and do the right thing is another more important thing, and the integrity to stay true to one’s course is the most important thing.

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That is why those who are quick to exhume how a 31-year-old Wole Soyinka stormed a radio station and held a Bereta pistol to the head of a broadcaster’s head to prevent the victory speech of the winner of a declared election result–saying no OBIdient has done half of what Soyinka did in that election; an action that he has refused to call himself a fascist for or even condemn–are right.

“Perhaps, those who judge the Nobel Laureate would do well to observe that famous quote from his 1971 prison notes: ‘The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny’. Even when the tyranny is not from tyrants, but from those who oppose tyranny itself.” — Ayo Adene.