Soyinka Meets Tinubu, Says He’ll Assess His Administration After One Year In Office

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has revealed that he presented a seven-point agenda to President Bola Tinubu aimed at moving Nigeria forward.

Soyinka disclosed this on Sunday while speaking with journalist after paying a courtesy visit to Tinubu in Lagos.

The Nobel Laureate clarified that his visit this time was to check on Tinubu and his wife, convey Christmas wishes, and inquire about their well-being.

Despite their friendship, Soyinka declined to assess Tinubu’s performance in office, expressing his tradition of giving leaders the first year before forming an opinion.

Soyinka recalled advising Tinubu not to run for president, but the former Lagos State governor ignored the suggestion. He referred to Tinubu as “olori kunkun,” meaning the stubborn one.

He said, “My first visit, actually it was an embarrassing visit because when I visited him the last time, it was to try and persuade him not to run for office. I think I’ve written about that.

“I told Atiku and himself that they should please leave the ground for young people. That was the last time we met, about five years ago.

“I call him, secretly, olorikunkun, a stubborn man, so he ignored my advice completely.

“So I came to see how’s doing after neglecting my advice, I wanted to see if both he and his wife were weathering Nigeria as well as can be expected and to wish them happy Christmas.

“You know we’re friends, as you know, very well, and it was as a friend that I told him don’t run, leave this thing alone, but he ignored me”.

On whether he had been convinced that the President made a good choice by running for the office he was advised against, Soyinka said “Something you may have noticed about me, like when most heads of state take office, I always leave them alone for about the first year, if you have noticed that because I know when they come in, they don’t start from ground zero, they often start even lower than ground zero and they have to make up.

“So I have this personal policy, whether it’s Obasanjo o, Buhari o, or Jonathan, you will notice that during the first year, I hardly say anything, then people will ask me why are you not talking and I will tell them, go and ask the last person whether I spoke during the first year. So I’m adopting the same principle. At the end of one year, ask me this question,” he said.

Asked what he would like to see the Tinubu government achieve, the Nobel Laureate said “that’s very simple. I came here with a seven-point agenda and we had a very thorough discussion on those items.”

KanyiDaily recalls that Wole Soyinka had reacted to a video showing members of the National Association of Seadogs (NAS), better known as the Pyrates Confraternity mocking Bola Tinubu before the presidential election.