Between Soyinka, The Obidient Movement And The Fight For Justice -By Gozie Irogboli

The uncharitable comment made by Prof. Wole Soyinka against the Obidient Movement the penultimate week is still generating ripples across the country now and many people seem to have joined in the fray and some are trapped in the cross fire of smear campaign. While I am excited about the responses, I must also add that I am surprised that most people are surprised at the behavior of the wily professor of comparative literature. But those who know his antecedent and are acquainted with the behavior of most of those who claim to be social critics in Nigeria should expect such shifty behavior from him. Although, the purpose of this essay is not about the human rights activities in Nigeria, yet you cannot fully explain the shifty behavior of Soyinka without reference to the human rights activism to which Soyinka seems to epitomize. The hypocritical behavior of the so-called Nigerian activists and the sectional Lagos Press has been the theme of some of my comments in the past.

I became very critical of the Nigeria’s social critics right from my days in the university. Before then I used to see them as idols, men of honor and integrity, altruistic and committed to the ideals of good governance. They go by different names and titles like: social critics, social activists, human right activists, pro-democrats…They carry themselves as nationalists, patriots, progressives speaking for the masses but in reality most of them are self-seeking political jobbers and ethnic demagogues whose notion of good governance and human rights are tinged with ethnic coloration. Like our politicians, many of them are failed professionals and jobless individuals looking for relevance or recognition, surviving on grants and patronage which they must earn by making noise and halfhearted comments about on democracy and human rights. The event that shaped my views about them was the Anti-SAP riot of 1989 wherein the man who goaded Nigerian students into going on rampage with false information about IBB’s wealth, took appointment with the same IBB government and transmogrified from a critic to a military apologist and then began to defend the same Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) that he told us was an evil contraption from the IMF to enslave Nigerians.

You will recall that one of those who emerged from the rubbles of the showboating acts of social activism in the 90s was Festus Keyamo whom many regarded then as a firebrand advocate but today, he has proved to be a self-seeking advocate for the most oppressive regime in the history of Nigeria.

The same goes for Prof. Itse Sagay. Bayo Ononuga who was in the trenches in 90s with his guerrilla journalism ostensibly for the enthronement of democracy now sees the exercise of people’s franchise in Lagos as “meddling with Lagos politics”.

It is self-evident that he never fought for democracy but for his primordial interest. How can a man who claimed to have fought for democracy liken those who want to exercise their civic franchise in their place of abode in their own country to intermeddling with other people’s affair? It is ridiculous and unfortunate!

But by far, the most hypocritical of the group that claim to be social critics in Nigeria is Prof. Wole Soyinka who is notoriously known for speaking from both sides of his mouth. In 1984, he produced a movie entitled: Blues for a Prodigal, which was a satire against Mohammadu Buhari’s military interregnum of that era. And in 2003, in solidarity with his brother Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, he declared that Buhari put Nigerians in chain while he was the military head-of-state and queried why Nigerians would want to go back to their chains by voting Buhari. Paradoxically, in 2015, the same Soyinka presented the same Buhari as a saint just to spite President Goodluck Jonathan who did not dance to his primordial tunes. In the 1980s, he was one of the most ardent critics of the IBB regime until, IBB established the FRSC in 1988 and appoint him the pioneer commandant and the vociferous Soyinka became quiescent.

Thus, we know Soyinka’s position ab initio. Soyinka cried blue murder when the Pirates Confraternity to which he belongs released the Emilokan song satirizing Tinubu. Again, shortly before the election, he declared his support for Tinubu when he said: “humiliate Asiwaju and you have me to contend with”. And he never in any way directly or indirectly condemned the violence, the xenophobic attack against the Igbo in Lagos and the irregularities that characterized the conduct of the just concluded election because everything seems to be in favor of his preferred candidate.

So, he is not suffering from any form of senility or intellectual stagnancy or fatigue as is being insinuated. His statement was deliberate. Soyinka is a wily old codger for the attack on the Obidients was diversionary but most people won’t see it that way.

It is meant to divert attention from the main issue—the flawed election and the violent and unorthodox conduct of Tinubu and his thugs. Those familiar with the art of propaganda know that what Soyinka did was deliberate. His main purpose is to discredit the Obidient Movement and the groups challenging the outcome of the shambolic election conducted by INEC and divert attention from the main issue. I have stated this for the umpteenth time that one of the devious tactics of some of the self-styled activists we have in Nigeria and the sectional Lagos Press is to gloss over real issues, highlight irrelevancies and suppress and obscure facts not in their favor.

Clearly, by the unwarranted attack on the Obidient Movement, Soyinka has exhibited himself as a bigoted ethnic chauvinist whose primary interest like most people of his type who are “culture-trapped”, is ethnic hegemony and cultural atavism, not on good governance or national unity. However, I have no problem at all with anybody identifying, affiliating or fighting for his people as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. But I have problem with people claiming what they are not. If somebody like Gani Adams speaks about supporting Tinubu, nobody would raise eyebrows for everybody knows where he belongs. But, it is unbecoming of somebody of Soyinka’s age and status to make such obtrusive and uncharitable comments about those fighting a just course while turning blind eyes to the real acts of violence perpetuated by political renegades. And by this, also, he has portrayed himself as one who is not interested in justice, peace or progress of the country and the masses that he had pretended all these years to speak for.

Perhaps, frustration could be seen as another reason for Soyinka’s unnecessary outburst against the Obidients. The voice of the Obidients has been loud and deafening, swamping out those of the main stream media that hitherto control the direction of public discourse and opinion and Soyinka is not happy about that. The dominance of the media space by the Obidient Movement and its pervading effect are quite disconcerting to the likes of Soyinka who feel it is their prerogative to control public opinion. In the past, Soyinka and his group have always dictated the direction of public discourse and public opinion through the collaborating Lagos Press but not anymore with the advent of the new media platforms. The youths that have always been their tools as well as their victims have this time realigned with the Obidient Movement to take back their country and their future from the drones and the godfathers that have held the country hostage.

And, that is why the behavior of the Obidients is “off-putting” to Soyinka but that of MC Oluomo and Tinubu’s area-boys who are carrying out xenophobic attack on others are soothing to him. What an irony! Indeed, Soyinka and his ilk that pay lip-service to our national problems are the real face of fascism in Nigeria and not the Obidients agitating for freedom from oppression from the political godfathers and recidivists that Soyinka is in dalliance with.

It is indeed ironical that an octogenarian who fought against election rigging in his youth could turn around to make obtrusive remarks about youths whose future is threatened by the misdemeanor of his self-acknowledged “wasted generation”. Now to Soyinka, the man lived and no longer died in him who kept quiet in the face of tyranny. Soyinka has actually disappointed many people by his conduct. At his age, he is expected to be more circumspect in response to issues. The Scriptures say that: “the hoary hair is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness.”

But, more than anything else, the Soyinka’s bitter diatribe against the Obidients is a pointer to the fact that the impact of the movement is being felt in the socio-political sphere. I will therefore enjoin the Obidients not to be discouraged by the affront but to sustain the intensity of their advocacy and non-violent activities.

I must confess that I am impressed by the conduct of the Nigerian youths and their firm resolve to fight for their future and the fact that they are not intimidated or cowed by big names or status. The ebullient and the restless Obidients have torn what is left of Soyinka’s reputation to shreds, deflating his ego and demystifying his personality. The dreaded lion seems to have lost its jewel and is now like a sheep in his demesne. Yes, “the man died in him” who tries to suppress the voice of dissent and play the advocate of the oppressors; who despises what is good and align with what is bad. The man has died in him whose sense of justice is beclouded with primordial sentiment. Indeed the man has died..!

Gozie Irogboli
An economist, a novelist and a public policy analyst
(goziei@yahoo.com)