Former Labour Party Vice Presidential candidate, Datti Yusuf Baba-Ahmed, has responded to Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka’s criticism of Labour Party’s presidential candidate Peter Obi.
Recall that Soyinka had stated that Obi’s inability to control his supporters’ online attacks on those with opposing views made him unfit to lead Nigeria.
Baba-Ahmed dismissed Soyinka’s comments as an attempted distraction, saying he wouldn’t engage in a war of words with the literary icon.
Taking to Arise TV to air his view, he emphasized that intellect does not grant the right to insult others, and refrained from retaliating with potentially damaging remarks.
Soyinka had accused Obi of condoning and encouraging his supporters’ online attacks on those with opposing views, including himself.
Baba-Ahmed however, chose not to directly address Soyinka’s claims, instead labeling his actions as a diversionary tactic.
The exchange highlights the ongoing tensions between political figures and public intellectuals in Nigeria’s political landscape.
He said, “The learned elder statesman, Prof Wole Soyinka is scared in advance about what good Peter Obi will bring to Nigeria. He’s scared in advance that the end is still looking very likely for his principal, for bad governance.
“What Wole Soyinka is doing now is an attempted distraction, which I beg you excuse me from joining issues with Wole Soyinka, please.
“You and I have much better things to do. For all I know, he could continue to throw punches at my principal, at me, as small as I am. If he continues to do that, all I can do is to grieve in my heart and continue to pray for him.
“You see, intellect doesn’t give you the right to insult anybody. I remember this Soyinka insulting late General Abacha, insulting him to the core that he was daft. Nothing gives him the right to do that. Abacha was not an academic. He was a soldier for God’s sake. And a good soldier in his own way in his own right.
“I beg you, let’s push Soyinka and his likes aside; we have better things to talk about.
“Nobel Laureates are loved and cherished by their people. Soyinka keeps getting insulted, and it is his responsibility to maintain his dignity and respect, not Peter Obi’s.
“I could say a few things to Wole Soyinka that could destroy him for good, but I wouldn’t say that.”
