“I never swallowed an alarm clock” – Soyinka defends silence over Tinubu’s performance

By Paul Dada

Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has said he will not allow people to stampede him into doing a public assessment of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Soyinka who spoke on  Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Monday, said he would only offer his evaluation of the government when he thought it necessary and would not do so under pressure from any one.

The literary icon was reacting to people who accused him of not keeping to his promise of giving his opinion about the Tinubu administration one year after it took off.

He said, “People should stop trying to work on my timetable for me. I had not swallowed an alarm clock.

“I don’t see why I should put my alarm on and say: ‘One year has passed, now, I must make an assessment’ if there is nothing I feel like talking about and if I am busy elsewhere.”

Soyinka said assessing a government was a collective responsibility and some were already doing it.

He said, “This business of ‘you haven’t come to do this’, I don’t understand it. Other people are doing the same; this is a collective effort. The Falanas speak consistently. The Baiyewus speak consistently. The Sowores come out and try to lead demonstrations. It’s a collective effort.

“The one year is up which means you have a right and I have a responsibility to respond when you call me on certain issues. But if you are saying that I would call a press conference and say: ‘One year is up, let us now make an assessment’.

“The only question I’d ask you is: ‘Did I do that with Jonathan?’ Did I do that with Buhari?’ ‘Did I do that with Obasanjo?’ ‘Did I do that with anybody? So, why is it expected of me?

“All it means is that one year is up. If I am around, and you want to get hold of me, I would speak. That’s all that statement meant.”