Prof Wole Soyinka, has declared that he will speak on President Bola Tinubu’s government when he has something to say, asking Nigerians not to set a timetable for him.
Soyinka made this statement on The Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television on Monday, also warned those asking him to fulfill his promise to assess Tinubu’s administration after one year in office, which elapsed on May 29, 2024.
“People should stop trying to work on my timetable for me. I have 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.
The Nobel Laureate said many conscientious persons had been speaking and that assessing any government is a collective responsibility of like-minded individuals.
“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 should 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 will speak. That’s all that statement meant,” Soyinka said.
