Professor Wole Soyinka

By Funke Cole

Shouldn’t there be a limit to f**lishness and display of crass ignorance? The question becomes apposite because sadly, the Obidient rabble rousers continue to overreach themselves with their perchance for haranguing, maligning, humiliating just about anybody who has a contrary opinion to theirs.

Since Prof. Wole Soyinka’s televised interview on Arise TV, there have been a barrage of jaundice criticisms and downright insults being hurled at him by persons who ordinarily should know that certain things are not right.
I find it really amusing that our own highly revered literary giant should be the butt of derisive jokes simply for voicing his opinion.
As someone practically weaned off the books written by Prof Wole Soyinka including ‘Trials of Brother Jero’ ‘To Set Forth at Dawn’ ‘And The Man Died’, to mention just a few and also reading about his many exploits, I know for certain that the respected Kongi is not a flippant person at all so to now denigrate him is to say the least, unfair.
Few days ago, I saw several writeups swelling with all manner of expletives aimed at Kongi himself because he called out Yusuf Datti Baba Ahmed, the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party who made incendiary comments capable of inciting the public.
I read stuff like ” Prof. Wole Soyinka is an illiterate” “Usel*ss Prof” “Wole Soyinka is a huge joke” “Kongi is De∆d. He’s a Tribal bigot who can’t hide his aversion” and many other unprintable expletives not worthy of repeating here.
Seeing all these diatribes directed against the Nobel Laureate, I was pained because here’s one individual I hold in high esteem and awe not just for his sound intellection and wide acclaim but because of his contributions the struggle for justice and equality both at the subnational as well as the global stage.
But then, I was minded that his traducers are a bunch of unrepentant souls when it comes to throwing shades and darts at people way beyond their status and social standing.
In fact, a friend said if these characters could lead a pack of unruly fellows to ridicule the name of a renowned social crusader like Fela Kuti, who else can’t they take to the cleaners?
Again, I ask, shouldn’t there be a limit to attacking people for sharing their personal views? C’mon, why can’t the Obidient team learn to respect other people’s opinions?
On a second thought, methinks Prof. Charles Soludo was absolutely right when he described the Obidient mob as suffering from the herd mentality so much so that they don’t do any introspection before they weigh in on any issue. All they do is go gungho and charge at their object of scorn even if such actions are unjustifiably bad and unacceptable.
There are ways and manners you can disagree with someone without recourse to insults, abuses and curses.
We’re in a civilised world now and no more in the world where Charles Darwin described men as savages where life was short and brutish as it was survival of the fittest!
No, the Obidients can’t take us back to the atavistic era!
Here’s my one kobo advice: the earlier the Obidients learn to allow wisdom rule their actions, the better for them. Know this and know peace!!!