Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka on Friday challenged the Labour Party Vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, to a one-on-one discussion.
Soyinka’s challenge followed the responses that followed his remark when he expressed disapproval at a statement made by Baba-Ahmed.
Baba-Ahmed had, in an interview with Channels TV, emphasised that “whoever swears in Mr Tinubu” has “ended democracy” in Nigeria.
After his comments, the National Broadcasting Commission imposed a punishment of N5 million on Channels Television for breaching the broadcasting rules in a show featuring Baba-Ahmed.
Baba-Ahmed, whose ticket with Peter Obi came third in the February 25 presidential election, has talked against the Supreme Court in a way characterized by Soyinka as “fascistic language”.
“I opposed the hostile statements of a vice-presidential contender as unseemly. That was a gladiatorial challenge addressed at the courts and, by implication, the whole of the democratic polity,” Soyinka remarked in an interview with Channels Television.
Additionally, Soyinka, in the interview, disclosed that he had cautioned Obi that if he lost the presidential race, it would be a consequence of his followers’ attitude.
Yet the Nobel laureate’s statement was received with loud condemnation by Obi’s followers, colloquially known as Obidients, who turned to Twitter to vent their disgust.
While denouncing the N5 million punishment levied on Channels TV over the interview, Soyinka in a statement headlined, “Fascism on course”, on Friday, criticized the penalty.
He stated that the punishment was uncalled for since the television station did nothing wrong in their interview with the LP vice presidential candidate.
“May I grab this occasion, by the way, to criticize the suspension placed on Channels Television, which anchored the performance of the LP candidate? As said, I followed the broadcast intently And observed the tremendous attempts of the interviewer to guarantee a fair hearing. I struggle to comprehend precisely where the station might be criticized, save from a tendency for unfairness. To prolong that punishment is to offer delight to those who make the Internet into a soakaway for their rotten emissions, but believe that others should be silenced,” he stated.
He also challenged Baba-Ahmed to a discussion on Channels TV.
“If Channels feel up to it, I offer myself ready to engage Mr Datti – or any candidate of his – on its platform on this precise bone of dispute – one-on-one – without the malodorous intrusion of media trolls, and with the same interviewer as mediator. It should be viewed as a serious offer,” he added.
Soyinka remarked, “Project Nigeria, I must say, has become almost terminally soul-searing. Do I still believe in it? I am no longer certain because – first, we must free ourselves of the dictatorship of the uneducated and the opportunism of time servers. In any event, there is not much else to engage one on a basis of ownership holdings.
“There is, of course, always the chance of a Revolution, with a clarity of purpose and acceptance of all accompanying dangers, including expensive blunders. Revolutions are not nevertheless found on the drive of speculative power entitlement. No matter, until that moment, the structures that ensure just and equitable cohabitation must be protected from partisan appropriation – be it from material inducement, fake news, or verbal terrorism – the last being the contribution of one who is positioned to assume co-leadership of the nation, no less.
“Revolution is not about lining up behind the next accessible symbol. When a sign does arise, however, we are still compelled to scrutinize every facet of what is fortuitously on offer, and continue to preserve our liberties every inch of the way.”
