Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has weighed in on the 2023 general elections and the rhetoric of political actors, lamenting that his trust in the system had been completely broken down.
Soyinka, who appeared on Channels Television’s Roadmap 2023 Monday night, described the elections as “not exactly the most edifying exercise that we’ve been through.”
The Nobel laureate said he was out of the country for some months, but shared his insight on the politics-speak that took hold while he was away.
He said: “On arriving, I came in for the World Poetry Day, and immediately, I was bombarded by the most horrendous narratives, both pre and after the elections.
“Since then, I’ve also read columns; I’ve seen Nigerian papers for the first time in months and I didn’t like what I read at all.
“My trust has broken down completely and even the minimum restraint that we’ve learnt to expect from seasoned politicians have been jettisoned completely.”
Soyinka noted that he preferred not to make comments on the electoral process as he was away, but said he was not ignorant of what was happening on the home front.
He said the nation was moving towards a situation that was not planned, but one that happened fortuitously where the existing mould was going to be broken.
“The signs were there that there would be die-hard opposition to the breaking of that mould. Elections should be keenly contested. But I still believe very much in what I call the Fashola Dictum,” he said.
He quoted former Governor Babatunde Fashola, now Minister of Works and Housing, as once saying elections should be like festivals.
“They should be yet another aspect of the festive spirit of humanity – and this (2023 election) was anything but festive,” he said.
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