We all desire long life. It appears that wish is turning a double edged sword in the case of our own WS. For the first time in his long active life, Professor Wole Soyinka is currently lining up on the side of an oppressive government, against the interests of evidently suffering Nigerians.
Things were not this bad under Jonathan Goodluck when he joined the crowd to, as usual, publicly protest general hardship.He did not, similarly, spare Mohammadu Buhari.
When Bola Tinubu commenced the rolling out of his calamitous policies that have since left most of us grounded , Soyinka was one of the people Nigerians looked up to as a defender.He said he was reserving his public assessment till the first anniversary of the administration. One year has since passed, with the general situation going from bad to worse.
Meanwhile, we continue to wait for our trusted Lion to roar on our behalf. How do we account for this apparent change outside the follies of old age? We can only wish for him that the present uncharacteristic game of the ostrich is not a sign that the man has died in our great ‘Eni Ogun’.
This wish, however , can only be fulfilled through the collective efforts of patriotic Nigerians and admirers of Professor Wole Soyinka across the world. We must urgently unite to rescue this gift of inestimable value from our ancestors from the claws of our country’s wily politicians.
For those who are ready to hearken, history keeps telling us how ruthless our current President, Bola Tinubu, could be in stepping over people, even benefactors, towards achieving and maintaining personal ambition .History is very clear on how he wormed his way into the embrace of those old guards in Afenifere on his way to becoming the governor of the most significant state in the country. The same history tells us how he cunningly went for the jugular of the sociopolitical association when disagreements arose on principles and traditions.Today, the once powerful voice of Afenifere has been tragically hushed. Is it very hard to recall the number of deputy governors that served in the eight years of Governor Tinubu.
Where are those human rights groups and activists of yore? They have, apparently, suffered the fate of Afenifere after getting too close to Tinubu. The worst is in how historical position of the Yoruba people as the moral pivot of Nigeria is being sacrificed on the altar of Bola Tinubu’s interests. The extent of the damage already done to our Yoruba heritage will only become clearer at the end of this President’s tenure.
This is the road we must save our WS from walking in his final lap. It’s a task that must be done ,ensuring history does not record current events as the last chapter of the book of his illustrious legacy.
