Prof. Wole Soyinka has weighed in on the 2023 general elections and the rhetoric of political actors.
The Nobel laureate, who appeared on Mondayโs edition of Channels Televisionโs Roadmap 2023, described the elections as โnot exactly the most edifying exercise that weโve been through.โ
Stating that he was out of the country for some months, Soyinka shared his insight on the politics-speak that took hold while he was away.
โOn arriving, I came in for the World Poetry Day, and immediately, I was bombarded by the most horrendous narratives both pre and after the elections,โ he said.
โSince then, Iโve also read columns; Iโve seen Nigerian papers for the first time in months and I didnโt like what I read at all.
โMy trust has broken down completely and even the minimum restraint that weโve learnt to expect from seasoned politicians have been jettisoned completely.โ
The literary icon noted that he preferred not to make comments on the electoral process as he was away, though he says it does not mean he was ignorant of what was happening on the home front.
In his estimation, the nation was moving towards a situation, which he says was not planned, but one that happened fortuitously where the existing mould was going to be broken.
โAnd the signs were there that there would be die-hard opposition to the breaking of that mould,โ he said. โElections should be keenly contested. But I still believe very much in what I call the Fashola Dictum.โ
Soyinka quoted former Governor Babatunde Fashola, now Minister of Works and Housing, as once saying elections should be like festivals.
โThey should be yet another aspect of the festive spirit of humanity โ and this was anything but festive,โ he said.
