Prof. Wole Soyinka is the greatest Nigerian. An erudite scholar. A honourable man. I am not good enough to be his housemaid.
He stood up for honour during the Nigerian civil war. Taking sides with the Igbo against an unjust war. A war of blame. He was incarcerated for 26 months.
He was our avatar for injustice during the draconian military rule. He became the voice of the voiceless people. The face we looked up to, with jackboots on our jugular.
From the boys in _khaki_ to the urchins in _agbada_ , Soyinka, was that human being we always wanted to hear from. “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny” ……His words, not mine.
Yes, the professor is an honourable man. He is a master of books. He has written some of the best the world has seen. The beauty in the book is when you turn the pages.
Why has the great one stooped turning the pages in the face of our present-day tyranny? If you are a Yoruba and expect me to be an _omoluabi_ . Respect my elders. I am sorry to offend you.
If you are a Nigerian. Seeing the country going down the abyss. And the silence is deafening from the professor. Then none have I offended. The professor, I repeat, is an honourable man.
Life imitating art. Soyinka is the King’s horseman. He is the biggest cheerleader for the worst President in the history of this country. At this stage of his life, he should remember death. Death, my people, is a necessary end. That will come when it comes. My number may be called before his. I am not the Creator.
It is no secret that the professor’s boys are in Aso Rock. His begotten children. Only a bloody fool will deny that he is protecting his investments that have come to fruition. We have ears and can hear. We have eyes, and we see him turn into a bully. The metamorphosis of a man that loathes the boldness of the youth.
His wish, every Obidient should be put in Kuje prison. He calls them a threat to democracy. No, sir. We are a threat to your friends in power. He told us to give him a year. We patiently did. But waiting for the professor to say anything bad about Tinubu and his gang of marauders.. is like waiting for Godot.
The professor is a card-carrying member of the APC. Oh yes, I said it. Nothing wrong with that. He is an honourable man. Not a saint. Is this a worthy tradeoff for the great things he has done in the past?
Today, when you say the appropriate thing, it is dubbed as sin. When you ask the necessary question. You are labelled a bastard. Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are. The professor is an honourable man. But is he who that that is to come? Or shall we expect another?
“Praise-singer: Elesin Oba! Are you not that man who looked out of doors that stormy day the god of luck limped by (…) I say you are that man who chanced upon the calabash of honour you thought it was palm wine and drained its contents to the final drop.
“Elesin: Life has an end. A life that will outlive fame and friendship begs another name. What elder takes his tongue to his plate, licks it clean of every crumb? He will encounter silence when he calls on children to fulfil the smallest errand! Life is honour. It ends when honour ends”.
