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Daily Independent (Lagos)

Nigeria: Wole Soyinka Stirs the Hornet's Nest

Michael Jegede

22 December 2008

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The Nobel laureate and human rights fighter, Wole Soyinka is always hitting the headlines because of his often unconventional approaches to issues of national interest.

At one time or the other, he had taken it upon himself to fight the cause of the various sections of the Nigerian populace. There is no gainsaying the fact that he has become a highly respectable character in the society.

Soyinka, the internationally acclaimed playwright, who won the heart of many in his style of literary works, is at it again. The professor of literature directed that the cash prize attached to the National Merit Award (NMA) conferred on him by the federal government be used for the reform of the Supreme Court. Soyinka, who retained the plague of the said award, stated at a press conference in Lagos that he took the decision to donate the cash to the Supreme Court because of its judgement, authenticating the election of President Umaru Yar'Adua. Soyinka believes that the verdict of the highest judicial body in the country is contrary to the expectations of Nigerians. He added that his action does not imply rejection of the award itself, since the nomination of beneficiaries was done conscientiously by credible people with high sense of integrity.

Soyinka maintained that he was denying himself the cash backup of the award for the reason that it came at a time the Apex Court gave a ruling that seems to have, according to him, opened the way for political abuse. "The fact remains that I believe that he (Yar'Adua) is a beneficiary of stolen goods. The principal thief was the former president Olusegun Obasanjo. But he is a beneficiary. It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court has not given us the opportunity of starting all over on a clean slate. It is a sad moment," the dramatist stated.

The social crusader further said, "Let there be no ambiguity about that. I have accepted it out of solidarity with my colleagues who sat for a long time to try to take this decision. However, I must return the prize money to the government. The institution that requires such money now in the nation is the Supreme Court."

Soyinka was born on July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. He became a professor of comparative literature at Nigeria's premier university college, the University of Ibadan (UI), in 1975.

However, Nigerians, especially legal experts have described the action of Soyinka as quite unbecoming of a man of his caliber. The Nobel Laureate should have known by virtue of his level of education, according to opinions, that such an action is not just an affront on the Supreme Court but the judiciary as a whole. A few, however, feel that the professor did not act wrongly by accepting the award and donating the cash prize for the enhancement of the topmost court in Nigeria, having disappointed the country in its decision on the 2007 presidential election. They believe that Soyinka should rather be commended for being so generous to have forfeited his cash prize for the reformation of the judiciary.

Yusuf Alli, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) condemned the action of the professor saying, "Soyinka may have done a good thing by returning the money to the federal government, but the Supreme Court does not need that kind of money. It is an insult to the judiciary. That somebody is a professor does not mean that he knows everything. What does he know about court judgement? Was he ever present at any of the sittings before the final verdict was given?"

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