Former Aviation Minister and Social Critic, Femi Fani-Kayode has flayed President Muhammadu Buhari for attacking Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka over his comment, condemning the total lockdown order issued by the President in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja.
The lockdown was effected to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Following the lockdown order by the President, Soyinka had picked holes in the action, calling out constitutional lawyers to challenge the order in court.
Also, Human Rights Lawyer, Ebun-oluwa Adegboruwa has termed the action illegal. He has continued to call on the President to revisit the action, threatening to sue the federal government over the lockdown.
Replying Soyinka, The New Diplomat reported that the presidency, in a statement issued by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, had said “Professor Soyinka is not a medical professor. His qualifications are in English literature, and his prizes are for writing books and plays for theatres. He is of course entitled to his opinions – but that is exactly all they are: semantics, not science. They cannot – and should not – therefore be judged as professional expertise in this matter in any shape or form.
“Across the world – from parts of the United States and China, to countries including the United Kingdom and France, government – mandated lockdowns are in place to slow and defeat the spread of coronavirus. All have been declared, and all have been made necessary, based on medical and scientific evidence. The guidance of the Nigerian Government’s medical specialists is to advise the same.
“Professor Soyinka has also declared, doubtless based on his specialism as a playwright, that: “We are not in a war emergency.”
Berating the presidency for the statement, Fani-Kayode in a tweet said Buhari was not fit to lick the shoes of Soyinka, adding that when Soyinka supported Buhari in 2015, he was hailed.
“When he supported you in 2015 you hailed & praised him. Now that he has criticised you publicly about your handling of the Covid 19 pandemic you call him a “mere fiction writer” that “no-one should listen to”.
“That is a Nobel Laureate: a man whose shoes you are not fit to lick,” he tweeted.
