Nobel
laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has distanced himself from a tribute he
purportedly wrote in honour of the national leader of the All Progressives
Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
In a tribute which has gone viral on the social media, Soyinka
was quoted as saying that he admired Tinubu because he saved Nigeria from
becoming a one-party state.
Soyinka was also alleged to have said that he would continue to stand by Tinubu
no matter what.
The alleged tribute read in part, “I do not admire Tinubu
because he is a saint. I do not admire Tinubu because he is from the South. I
do not admire Tinubu because he is a Yoruba. If I want saints, I will proceed
to heaven, not on earth. Every human is fallible. I admire Tinubu because he
saved Nigeria from the danger of falling into a one-party state.
“He has nurtured many renowned national successors. He listened
to the voice of the masses to surrender his personal ambition at the most
critical moment. He strategically terminated the PDP’s 60-year ambition in 16
years.
“Anybody, any cabal, any Viju milk activist, attempting to
humiliate Asiwaju must have me to contend with. An average the PDP man is angry
with Asiwaju because he brought them to their knees. If anyone thinks that
bringing down Asiwaju is his project, that mission will not only crash but it
will boomerang.
“He owns Lagos! I hear you! Ask your grandfather and parents how
they acquired your so-called family land. Is it God that allocated it to them?
Prof. Wole Soyinka.”
However, Soyinka, while reacting in a statement he signed on
Thursday, wondered why people continued to use his name to spread falsehood.
He asked members of the public to be careful about the things
they read on the Internet.
He said, “It is difficult to prescribe for the sort of mind that
finds itself so inadequate that it must foist its opinions on others, and with
such confident sense of impunity. Kindly assist me in letting the public know
that I am not in any way connected with the publication.
“I can only yet again recommend my recent ‘occasional’
publication, ‘The Republic of Liars,’ to the public as a cautionary tract,
while the growing population of victims await the routine descent of the full
operational wrath of Internet policing on all impudent impersonators.”
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