Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has opted to remain silent on the performance of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, despite public anticipation.
Soyinka made this revelation during an interview with The NEWS magazine on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
Responding to questions about when he would fulfill his promise to speak on Tinubu’s administration after its first year in office, a commitment he made during a visit to Tinubu in Lagos late last year, Soyinka explained his decision to hold back his comments.
“First of all, understand that I don’t live on an alarm clock. And I hope nobody is so naive as to think that on the dot of one year I am going to speak,” Soyinka remarked.
He emphasised that he does not feel compelled to speak simply because people are eagerly awaiting his opinion.
Soyinka acknowledged that many are keen to hear his thoughts, some even looking to criticize him regardless of what he says.
“I know that there are some people out there, who are waiting for Wole Soyinka to speak. Whatever he says, they are going to jump at him,” he noted.
Referring to past experiences, Soyinka recounted a directive he had heard about, where individuals were instructed to attack him regardless of their understanding of his statements.
“Any time he opens his mouth, jump in his throat,” he quoted.
In response, he asserted, “I have swallowed more toxic nonsense in my life, anybody who jumps in my throat I would swallow and excrete it in the rear end, and go back to my business normally!”
Soyinka concluded by reiterating his decision to remain silent for now, likening it to his previous action of cutting his American Green Card without immediate public announcement.
“As far as I am concerned, they can go and commit suicide, wherever they are, or come and jump in my throat as they have been directed.
“I know those who are waiting. I want to disappoint them,” he declared.
