Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has said he hopes Peter Obi, a former Labour Party presidential candidate, will not contest the next election.
Soyinka said this in a recent interview with Noble Nigeria, arguing that the actions of the Labour Party leadership in the last election showed that he and his team were not fit to govern Nigeria.
The literary icon further accused Obi of controlling the online trolls responsible for the insults directed at him and other prominent figures who raised critical questions about the party’s campaign during the electioneering period.
Soyinka was constantly insulted by Obi’s supporters, known as ‘Obidients’ on social media, especially X.
Soyinka said: “It has to do with education. I didn’t read all these (insults by Obidient Movement) but of course, some links were sent to me, especially when facts were ‘being manufactured’.
“When I read these things, I was disgusted. There’s no other word for it. I really was disgusted and I know that it was orchestrated.
“I know that there is a relay mechanism, which is triggered into action by those who control what we call the trolls of the Internet, and so my disgust and contempt. I just went about my business, you know, because nobody, anybody on this earth who thinks they can stop me telling the truth as I see it needs to have his or her head examined. It’s as elementary as that.
“But it is depressing to see those who wanted to be political leaders encouraging that kind of action, that kind of attitude in the youth. And my mind went to the expression, ‘They don’t know what they’re doing’. Those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.”
Soyinka, who described the online trolls as “foot soldiers” added that “they were trained in that aspect”.
He said: “One of these days, they would be astonished, they would turn on them and teach them a lesson. And so, my attitude was very blasé and it is for me a sad phenomenon, especially for those who want to lead multi-textured (society)- different religions, different ethnic groups, different worldviews – who actually want to preside over such a group as one. It means that they have already declared themselves incompetent to lead such an entity.”
When asked about Obi and his candidacy in the last election, Soyinka said, “I hope for the sake of the nation that he doesn’t express interest in the next election because for me as a leader, if there was any proof that he was unfit to lead that country, it’s in the conduct which he encouraged among his followers.”
