wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has responded to calls for his assessment of President Bola Tinubu’s government, stating that he will speak when he has something meaningful to say.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Soyinka dismissed expectations that he would automatically review Tinubu’s administration after its first year in office.  “People should stop trying to work on my timetable for me,” he said. “I had not swallowed an alarm clock.”

Soyinka had previously stated, during a visit to Tinubu in December 2023, that he would reserve his assessment until May 2024. However, he now insists that evaluating a government is a collective effort, pointing out that activists and public commentators, such as Femi Falana and Omoyele Sowore, are already speaking out.

The renowned writer emphasized that he had never issued formal assessments of past governments on their anniversaries and saw no reason to start now.  “If I am around and you reach out, I will speak,” he clarified.