Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has described former president, Olusegun Obasanjo as a nuisance that must be endured.
Soyinka further said that the former president is an as an overgrown child of circumstance.
The
renowned playwright made the remarks in his new book, titled
“Interventions: Between Defective Memory and the Public Lie – A Personal
Odyssey in the Republic of Liars”, which was presented in Abeokuta,
Ogun State on Saturday, October 24, 2015.
“I
brainstormed with him over meals both when he was military Head of State
– in Dodan Barracks and in his home, Ota – for some time after he left
office and early in Aso Rock at his ‘second coming.’ Today, it is a
different situation. If he offered to host me, I would wait until he had
first swallowed a morsel from the same dish,” Soyinka said of Obasanjo.
He continues:
“I
had fully attuned myself to the fact that our Owu retiree soldier and
prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the same era
and nation space must learn to endure. However, it does appear to me
that there is no end to this individual’s capacity for infantile
mischief, and for needless, mind-boggling provocations, such as his
recent ‘literary’ intrusion on my peace.”
“Our
author invokes God tirelessly, without provocation, without necessity
and without justification, perhaps preemptively, but does he really
believe in such an entity? Does our home-bred Double-O-Seven believe in
anything outside his own Omnipotence?”
“Could he
possibly have mistaken the Christian exhortation – ‘Watch and Pray’ –
for his own private inclination to ‘Watch and Prey? This is a seasoned
predator on others’ achievements. He preys on their names, their
characters, their motivations, their true lives; preys on gossip and
preys on contributions to collective undertakings – even preys on their
identities, substituting his own where possible.”
Obasanjo
had earlier criticized Soyinka in his autobiography “My Watch” saying
that the Nobel Laureate knew nothing about politics and should instead
focus on being a wine connoisseur.