Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has dismissed calls for him to assess President Bola Tinubu’s administration, stating that he will speak when he feels it is necessary.
The renowned playwright, who had previously indicated he would evaluate Tinubu’s government after one year in office, clarified that he is not bound by any timeline.
“People should stop trying to work on my timetable for me,” Soyinka said during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday.
“I had not swallowed an alarm clock. I don’t see why I should put my alarm on and say: ‘One year has passed, now, I must make an assessment’ if there is nothing I feel like talking about and if I am busy elsewhere.”
Soyinka visited Tinubu in Lagos in December 2023 where he stated that he would reserve his comments on the administration until May 2024.
With critics blaming Tinubu’s government for economic hardship, rising inflation and a high cost of living, many expected Soyinka to weigh in on the issues.
However, he insisted that evaluating a government is a collective duty, highlighting the contributions of voices like Femi Falana, Olusegun Baiyewu and Omoyele Sowore in critiquing the administration.
“This business of ‘you haven’t come to do this’, I don’t understand it. Other people are doing the same; this is a collective effort,” he said.
“The one year is up, which means you have a right and I have a responsibility to respond when you call me on certain issues. But if you are saying that I would call a press conference and say: ‘One year is up, let us now make an assessment’… The only question I’d ask you is: ‘Did I do that with Jonathan? Did I do that with Buhari? Did I do that with Obasanjo?’ So, why is it expected of me?”
