Our Reporter, Abuja
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has given reason for his Sunday visit to Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka at his home.
The former governor of Anambra State said he had to visit the legendary playwright against the background of misconceptions of the relationship between Soyinka and his (Obi’s) followers, the ‘Obidients.’
Obi made this known when he shared pictures of the visit accompanied with some posts on his Twitter handle, which he personally signed.
The post read: “Today, I visited one of Nigeria’s most revered figures and an international literary icon, Prof Wole Soyinka. Prof Soyinka has been a father whom I hold in very high esteem for what he has achieved and stands for in the struggle for a better Nigeria.
“His reputation as a fighter for justice and equity in our society has been legendary and we will NEVER ignore them. I had a very useful and enriching discussion about his aspirations for a better and greater Nigeria, and he shared a lot with me about his dream for a greater and more inclusive Nigeria. I reminded the Nobel laureate of the huge price he paid just before the outbreak of the civil war, fighting for the cause of the Igbos.
“I cherished this Sunday’s visit which was intended to erase the needless misconceptions about the relationship between the great icon and the OBIdient family. -PO”
Ikengaonline reports that recently Soyinka had come under heavy criticisms from Obi’s supporters; and even some influential members of the public for unfairly describing the ‘Obidient’ movement as “fascist.”
One of such famous criticisms came from award winning author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who said that Soyinka perhaps is unrestrained when it comes to the use of words.
“I think he was making a very strongly felt point about the election. I think a charitable way of reading Prof. Soyinka’s comments is that Professor Soyinka himself, I think it’s fair to say he is not given to restraint in language, in general, so maybe that’s where that word fascist came from,” Adichie had said.
