Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole
Soyinka, has expressed shock at
the contents of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s
autobiography, titled My Watch.
The literary icon slammed the ex-
President calling him an expert in
telling lies.
In the three-volume book,
Obasanjo described Soyinka as a
misfit.
He wrote, “For Wole (Soyinka), no
one can be good, nor can anything
be spot-on politically except that
which emanates from him or is
ordained by him. His friends and
loved ones will always be right and
correct no matter what they do or
fail to do.”
“He is surely a better wine
connoisseur and a more successful
“aparo” (guinea fowl) hunter than
a political critic.”
Soyinka, in a piece titled ‘Watch
And Pray, Watch And Prey’,
however, described Obasanjo as a
shameless man.
He noted that it was unfair for the
former President to openly
condemn his former Special
Adviser, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, who
is “young enough to be his son.”
He said, “For now, let me single
out just one of the most glaring
instances of this man’s compulsive
career of lying; one sample that
the media can readily check upon
and use as a touchstone – if they
do need one – in assessing our
author’s multifaceted claims and
commentaries on people and
events.
“I refer here to the grotesque and
personally insulting statement that
he has attributed to me for some
inscrutable but obviously
diversionary reasons. In the
process, this past Master of
Mendacity brazenly implicates an
innocent young man, Akin
Osuntokun, who once served him
as a Special Adviser.
“Instead of conferring dignity on a
direct rebuttal of an ignoble
fabrication, I shall simply make a
personal, all-embracing
attestation:
“I despise that species of humanity
whose stock-in-trade is to concoct
lies simply to score a point, win an
argument, puff up his or her own
ego, denigrate or attempt to
destroy a fellow being. However,
even within such deplorable
species, a special pit of universal
opprobrium is surely reserved for
those who even lack the courage of
their own lies, but must foist them
on others.
“When an old man stuffs a lie into
the throat of an age-mate of his
own children – omo inu e! – we
can only pity an irredeemable
egomaniac whose dotage is
headed for twilight disgrace.”
The literary icon said Obasanjo’s
palatial home was acquired
through ‘executive extortionism’
just as President Goodluck
Jonathan recently got N21bn at a
fundraising.
He noted that both Jonathan and
Obasanjo were leaders, who are
known for glorifying impunity.
He said, “That obscene proceeding
(fundraising) has certainly set a
competitive precedent for impunity
in President Jonathan’s recent
fund-raising shindig, editorialised
in THE PUNCH (Dec. 23, 2014) as
‘Impunity Taken too Far’. So much
for the latest from that direction –
we mustn’t allow Handing-Over
notes between presidents to
distract us for too long.”
Soyinka, has expressed shock at
the contents of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s
autobiography, titled My Watch.
The literary icon slammed the ex-
President calling him an expert in
telling lies.
In the three-volume book,
Obasanjo described Soyinka as a
misfit.
He wrote, “For Wole (Soyinka), no
one can be good, nor can anything
be spot-on politically except that
which emanates from him or is
ordained by him. His friends and
loved ones will always be right and
correct no matter what they do or
fail to do.”
“He is surely a better wine
connoisseur and a more successful
“aparo” (guinea fowl) hunter than
a political critic.”
Soyinka, in a piece titled ‘Watch
And Pray, Watch And Prey’,
however, described Obasanjo as a
shameless man.
He noted that it was unfair for the
former President to openly
condemn his former Special
Adviser, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, who
is “young enough to be his son.”
He said, “For now, let me single
out just one of the most glaring
instances of this man’s compulsive
career of lying; one sample that
the media can readily check upon
and use as a touchstone – if they
do need one – in assessing our
author’s multifaceted claims and
commentaries on people and
events.
“I refer here to the grotesque and
personally insulting statement that
he has attributed to me for some
inscrutable but obviously
diversionary reasons. In the
process, this past Master of
Mendacity brazenly implicates an
innocent young man, Akin
Osuntokun, who once served him
as a Special Adviser.
“Instead of conferring dignity on a
direct rebuttal of an ignoble
fabrication, I shall simply make a
personal, all-embracing
attestation:
“I despise that species of humanity
whose stock-in-trade is to concoct
lies simply to score a point, win an
argument, puff up his or her own
ego, denigrate or attempt to
destroy a fellow being. However,
even within such deplorable
species, a special pit of universal
opprobrium is surely reserved for
those who even lack the courage of
their own lies, but must foist them
on others.
“When an old man stuffs a lie into
the throat of an age-mate of his
own children – omo inu e! – we
can only pity an irredeemable
egomaniac whose dotage is
headed for twilight disgrace.”
The literary icon said Obasanjo’s
palatial home was acquired
through ‘executive extortionism’
just as President Goodluck
Jonathan recently got N21bn at a
fundraising.
He noted that both Jonathan and
Obasanjo were leaders, who are
known for glorifying impunity.
He said, “That obscene proceeding
(fundraising) has certainly set a
competitive precedent for impunity
in President Jonathan’s recent
fund-raising shindig, editorialised
in THE PUNCH (Dec. 23, 2014) as
‘Impunity Taken too Far’. So much
for the latest from that direction –
we mustn’t allow Handing-Over
notes between presidents to
distract us for too long.”
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