Veteran Dramatist, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Lambasts Obasanjo, Warns Ex-president About ‘Hijacking Propensity’
Veteran dramatist, Professor Wole Soyinka, has reportedly described former president Olusegun Obasanjo as one of the country’s major problems.
While speaking at the launch of his new book, “Interventions’ VIII” published by Book Craft which was held in Lagos on Thursday, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, threw shades at former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the retired general’s ‘hijacking propensity’.
According to PREMIUM Times, Soyinka urged the ex-Nigerian leader to keep away from political movements put in place by patriots to restore Nigeria to the path of development, and warned Obasanjo against associating with Nigerians preoccupied with plans to reposition the nation and put it on the path of progressive growth.
He said, “I have only one demand: Keep away from movements struggling to restore this country to the path of sanity and even moderate rectitude. End your hijacking propensity.”
DailyTrust reported that Soyinka said he was moved to write the book: “Interventions VIII” because of the tissues of lies found in Obasanjo’s three-volume autobiography: “My watch”.
He said: “This is a man who will never take responsibility for anything. And what I even found most unacceptable is for the same person when such a critic of successive governments now offers himself as a sort of saviour.
“The letter he wrote that was meant to be a letter bomb ended up being a su*cide bomb,” he said, describing Obasanjo as someone who usually studies events, looks at the directions things are going before jumping in to take credit for what others laboured for.
According to Soyinka, Nigeria must learn to do away with Obasanjo with young people taking over the country.
The literary icon also alluded to the fact that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is troubled by several acts of mis-governance and unforced errors.
“There are unforced errors and acts that are considered stupid. And failure to secure lives and languages of self-excusing which were condemned in the past but resurfacing all over the place,” he said.
“Also, failure to exert authority when and immediately when due which led to the killings. There is a cheapening of lives. The value of lives in the last year or so, on a level we haven’t witnessed in the country for a long time; and that is one of the reasons it has become essential that we all embark on ground- clearing for a new generation of leaders.
“And to make sure that in the process, we don’t bring back what we are just getting out from. That is one of the stupid acts that we could be held responsible for by the coming generation.’’
The session was moderated by veteran journalist, Kunle Ajibade; human rights lawyer, Femi Falana; and columnist and Editorial Board chair of The Nation newspaper, Sam Omatseye.