By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka says he never wrote the WhatsApp posting on the quest for a Yoruba nation being attributed to him on social media and wants the public to know that he does not support the agitation led by Sunday Igboho.
To begin with, he insists he does not use social media at all.
So, he “wishes to denounce the fake WhatsApp posting on the Yoruba state agitation being attributed to him,” said a statement issued on his behalf by Jahman Anikulapo, former Guardian on Sunday Editor.
Separatist demand in the South East has been on for decades to carve out a Biafran nation from Nigeria, a cry joined last year by Igboho and his cohorts in the South West, where they want a Yoruba nation.
Earlier this year, Igboho carved out on paper a Republic of Oduduwa and published what he called the currency of the purported nation.
But the move lacks the support of governors, opinion leaders, and traditional rulers in the South West.
Soyinka, a famous social critic who has spoken out against misrule by military and civilian rule alike, does not shy away from a fight he believes in – a mantle he has worn since his days at the University of Ibadan (UI).
However, he deploys his own verbal weapon for every confrontation, and does not want anyone speaking for him without his consent or attributing to him what he has not said.
“Once again, he requests the public to ignore the utterances of those contemptible interlopers who lack the courage of their conviction and thus take to Identity Theft for the furtherance of their views,” said the statement issued through Anikulapo, now an artist and culture curator.
“For a start, Wole Soyinka does not participate in Facebook, Tweet, Blog, WhatsApp or other offerings of the Social Media. Any views that he wishes to express on national and other issues routinely go through the print media.”