I Won’t Assess Tinubu’s Govt For Now - Soyinka Gives Reasons

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said he is not ready to assess the administration of President Bola Tinubu, explaining that his past remarks have often been misinterpreted.

Soyinka, who spoke in an interview with BBC News Yoruba published on Facebook on Tuesday, said he would rather take his time before publicly stating his view about the current administration.

“I have been asked that question by several people,” Soyinka, speaking in Yoruba language, told his interviewer. 

“I don’t want to answer because it seems as if there’s nothing one says that won’t be twisted, and I’m tired of that. So, I want to take my time. When it’s time, I will write my view on that,” he said.

The Nobel laureate, known for his fearless criticism of successive governments, has yet to give any formal appraisal of Tinubu’s government more than two years after it came to power.

Soyinka, who had in the past lambasted the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari, has often expressed deep frustration with Nigeria’s governance and leadership style.

Recently, the playwright made headlines after revealing that the United States Embassy in Lagos had revoked his B1/B2 visa. 

He, however, dismissed any plan to reapply, saying, “If you read the letter sent to me by the embassy, they wrote that I should bring my passport for them to stamp it so it shows that it has been cancelled. They are jokers… I cannot say I’ll be applying again or sitting down to fill out any form, whether online or having to go there — no.”

The 91-year-old scholar said he had no quarrel with the American people but maintained that if the U.S. government later realised its mistake, “they should bring [the visa] to my house. And before you come to my house, you will need a visa to enter.”