Wole Soyinka: The Man and the Arrow of God for Nigeria! By Prince Dr Wumi Akintide

Wole Soyinka: The Man and the Arrow of God for Nigeria!

“Our fear” for Nigeria when Nigeria’s greatest asset and prisoner of conscience Wole Soyinka is no longer with us is what this article is going to be all about

I am using the word “Our” and not just “My” fear because I have done some research and I have written a few articles on the Nobel Laureate in the past asking the same question time and again, but with no definitive answer from anyone , but we all instinctively know that the end or the dissolution of Nigeria which is our worse nightmare is most likely to come upon us, once the man is gone for good.

Wole Soyinka is not a soothsayer and I am not even sure if the great man is a Christian or a Muslim or an Isese sympathizer or devotee but one thing I know is that the icon is a man of Destiny and a man of strong convictions who cannot be teliguided or macro-managed by anybody but only by his conscience.

I have heard the rumor and I have not checked the veracity of it that the great scholar had graduated with a third class from the premier University of Ibadan not because he did deserve a first class or a Second Class Upper but because he was a rebel and the Authorities wanted to humiliate him and to teach him a lesson he would not forget in a hurry.

It was also rumored that the rebel in him had simply gone to the UK to be enrolled again at the University of Leeds where he graduated top of his Class with a First Class First Place in English Literature.

I also hear the rumor that he was the first or only scholar who did not have to take a higher degree like a Master’s or a Ph. D to be promoted a Professor in his chosen field.

He was nominated a few times before he was finally awarded or made a Nobel laureate in Literature and arguably the first such awardee to come from the West African sub region if not in the whole of Africa to be so honored.

The rebel and the prisoner of conscience in him had led him to a radio station in Western Region as a young man in 1964 to by force make a broadcast to the nation condemning Premier Samuel Ladoke Akintola and his Government for the rigging of Elections in the old Western Region which was one of the events that had led to the January 15, 1966 first Coup in Nigeria that predated the 38 years of Military Rule in Nigeria and the rest is History.

It was the same prisoner of conscience instincts in him that had led Wole Soyinka to side with the Igbos in the Biafran War from 1967 to 1970 at a great risk to his own life after being arrested and detained so many times for sticking out his neck too many times to speak the truth to power in Nigeria and to damn the consequence.

Still the man who wrote the book titled, “The man died” did not die and the man is right now in his early 90s, but we all know the day would come whether we like it or not.

I refer you to the report of the Anchor of the Yoruba World Center of the University of Ibadan on the latest expose and open challenge on principle to the President of the Republic Bola Ahmed Tinubu on why he must call the bluff of his son Seyi Tinubu for the President to retain any semblance of credibility as a leader who practices what he preaches.

It was an act of courage that only Wole Soyinka is capable of

I cannot think of any other Nigerians who could have done what Wole Soyinka had done yesterday to save President Tinubu from himself before it is too late.

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka remains one of the greatest blessings and assets of a potentially great country which is being bastardized and held to ransom by its leadership and followership, as we speak, if the truth be told.

Kudos to Wole Soyinka and kudos to Olayiwola Alaga of the Yoruba World Center of the great University of Ibadan for a great and objective analysis on the encounter between the Nobel Laureate and President Tinubu.

I rest my case.

Omoba Dr. Wumi Akintide a public affairs commentator writes from Oyemekun Terrace New York City