I’m Being Hounded Like I Was Under Abacha –Soyinka

Nigeria’s only Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka on Friday raised the alarm, saying that he is being hounded by some unnamed personalities in the cyberspace, while explaining that those after him are acting like those that persecuted him under the brutal dictatorship of the late General Sani Abacha.

Soyinka stated this in a statement last night, where he added that he might be forced to take legal actions against his traducers upon receipt of advice from his lawyers. The literary icon had been under intense criticism from individuals and groups to intervene in the series of controversies surrounding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic records, with many alleging the 89-year-old of shielding the president.

One of such organisations is Public Policy Think Tank Group, the Neo Africana Centre who recently urged him to take a stand on the controversies involving President Tinubu. He has also been having a running battle with some Nigerians who are sympathetic to the Presidential bid of the Labour Party candidate, Mr.Peter Obi, the Obidient Movement.

However, in the statement, Soyinka wrote: “A document of unmatchable scurrility, last encountered during General Sani Abacha’s global campaign of calumny against opponents of his despotic, infernally venal and homicidal reign, is back in circulation.” He accused his traducers of hiding under the cover of freedom of speech and opinion his carrying out their cyber bullying, saying he was willing to strip himself bare of any honour to prove his dignity.

“Duly modified to suit a debased internet culture, it is making its grimy rounds ironically under the auspices of a democratic political party, supposedly dedicated to an ethos of freedom of opinion and expression,” he wrote.

The acclaimed writer also accused the unnamed personalities in the cyberspace, saying they have been acting a script aimed at downplaying his accomplishments, saying the content of the actions is akin to that performed by a Bristol schoolteacher.

“While awaiting a decision from my lawyers whether or not to dignify the current sponsors of this mouldy tract with legal action, I wish to state in advance that I voluntarily waive all protection under the statute of limitations and insist that the laws that govern fraudulent academic claims be invoked and applied to these allegations to the uttermost limit,” he wrote.

He further added that “I also declare, in advance, that, if found culpable, I shall strip myself of any title and honours I may have garnered in my entire career, from the most obscure to the most coveted.” The Nobel Laureate however urged those making allegations of graft against him to go further by making their allegations available to the various anti-graft agencies in the country.

“I expect the purveyors of this sordid material to submit all evidence, however minuscule, to the nation’s investigative agencies – Directorate of Prosecutions, EFCC, ICPC, plus affected institutions and others – within the next thirty days,” he wrote.

While sounding conciliatory, he urged his traducers to seek apology from him in the interim, saying “Failing this elementary service in public interest within the stated time, and/ or if such allegations are yet again proven baseless, thus indicating that their sponsors can boast of neither honours to their careers nor honour to their births and origins.

Related