Soyinka reveals Obasanjo’s alleged misdeeds, says there is deep soakaway pond in ex-president

Iconic playwright, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has kept to his promise of exposing former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Soyinka had made the promise of exposing the former President’s “evil deeds” while he was in office.

Soyinka said that the allegation of corruption by former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu against Obasanjo should be addressed.

The Noble Laureate also advised Obasanjo to desist from fighting so hard to restore Nigeria to the path of sanity and moderate rectitude, describing him as ‘objectively unfitted ’ for the role.

The Dramatist further called on the former President to instead head for a monastery.

He also accused him of using government fund to establish a personal library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Soyinka said, “I know that deep inside, there is a soakaway pond of personal insecurity struggling to be drained. Beneath every bully, there is a scared product of insecurity and troubled conscience.

“Now, fight your own demons as best as you can, and feel free to flagellate Buhari (President Muhammadu) with all the weapons in your armoury. I have only one demand: keep away from movements struggling to restore this nation to the path of sanity and even moderate rectitude.

“End your hijacking propensity.”

Soyinka said this in the latest of his interventions series, Interventions VIII, titled ‘Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?: Gani’s Unfinished Business’ officially released to the public by Bookcraft on Tuesday.

He also described the Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, built by Obasanjo as ‘Presidential Laundromat’, alleging that it was constructed with fraud.

He said, “That structure in Abeokuta remains a moral eyesore to those who were in a position to obtain even a glimmering of the proceedings that inflicted such a purulent carbuncle on the landscape of my state, Ogun.

“However, even the grossest evil can be turned to some good . When we were school pupils , one of our illustrated reading texts was one entitled, ‘This is the house that Jack built. ’Today, and forevermore, generations will point to that thing which I have daubed the Presidential Laundromat and say : This is the house that Fraud built.’’

The playwright also asked if someone with Obasanjo’s ‘governance record dare accuse anyone of failing to rise to the challenges of governance.’

Soyinka, who said one of the challenges that had confronted Nigeria since military incursion into politics was electricity, asked Obasanjo to tell Nigerians how he rose to the challenges of power while he was in office for eight years.

He added, “I dare Obasanjo to meet me one – on – one on any podium to present the facts of that stewardship to the Nigerian people… Just how did you, in eight years, rise to the challenges of power generation for a population of a hundred and fifty million people, endowed with enormous energy resources.

“Eight years-repeat, eight years in office, and the elected estate manager of this vast territory could not even provide the modicum level of power to activate even a low – level cottage industrial culture. And such individual has the nerve to sermonise about rising to challenges.’’

The essayist and poet also said that he had a vested interest in the power industry and could claim to be an insider in that ministry for a while when the late Bola Ige agreed to serve as minister of power in Obasanjo’s cabinet against his (Soyinka ’s) personal conviction.

He added ‘‘Again, we are also duty bound to point out that the author of that damning expose is himself standing trial on charges of corruption.

“We are aware that this pioneer letter-writer has been summoned by the EFCC to substantiate his claims.”