Ebun Francis
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Wednesday in Abuja urged Nigerians to be wary of a former president who pretends to be the conscience of the nation who is now supporting ‘a devil’ to be the country’s next president.
According to Soyinka, if the former leader had been referring to a certain person for eight years as ‘a devil’ and is now telling Nigerians to vote for the devil, then there is a reason for Nigerians to express some doubt.
Soyinka said, “We have got to develop a very healthy skepticism. If someone in a position of power for eight years has lectured a nation for eight years and after that, continued year after year to continue to direct the minds of a whole nation in one direction, only saying, ‘This is Lucifer from hell’ for eight years in office and several more years out of office saying, ‘This is Lucifer’ and then one day he changed and says: ‘Behold your redeemer;’ which of the two is fake news?”
Eventhough, the Nobel Laureate did not mention the former president he was referring to by name, nor the alleged Lucifer, many believe that former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition PDP were the targets of his attack.
Soyinka who was a panelist at an event tagged, ‘Nigeria 2019: Countering Fake News’, organised by BBC News, also asked the traditional media not to spread unfounded allegations as the new media oftentimes do.