Nigerian Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has opened up on the real reason behind his decision not to endorse any candidate in the 2023 elections.
Soyinka made this known in an interview on Channels Television’s Roadmap 2023 which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York.
The Nobel laureate described the 2023 elections as “not exactly the most edifying exercise that we’ve been through.”
He said, ‘On arriving, I came in for the World Poetry Day, and immediately, I was bombarded by the most horrendous narratives both pre and after the elections.’
‘Since then, I’ve also read columns; I’ve seen Nigerian papers for the first time in months and I didn’t like what I read at all.
‘My trust has broken down completely and even the minimum restraint that we’ve learnt to expect from seasoned politicians have been jettisoned completely.’
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Sonyinka noted that he preferred not to make comments on the electoral process as he was away, though he says it does not mean he was ignorant of what was happening on the home front.
He said the nation was moving towards a situation, which was not planned, but one that happened fortuitously where the existing mould was going to be broken.
“And the signs were there that there would be die-hard opposition to the breaking of that mould,” he said. “Elections should be keenly contested. But I still believe very much in what I call the Fashola Dictum,” he said.
Soyinka quoted the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola as once saying elections should be like festivals.
The elder statesman said, ‘They should be yet another aspect of the festive spirit of humanity – and this was anything but festive.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that his interview has continued to generate reactions among Nigerians.