Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has challenged the
vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, to
a one-on-one debate on Channels Television regarding the nation’s democracy.
Soyinka, in a statement titled “Fascism on Course,” released
on Friday, is challenging the LP’s vice-presidential candidate to a debate as
regards his claims of Nigeria’s democracy ending if the President-elect,
Asiwasju Bola Tinubu, is sworn in May 29.
Soyinka stated, “May I seize this opportunity, by the way,
to condemn the sanctions imposed on CHANNELS Television which anchored the
performance of the LP candidate.
“As stated, I watched
the programme keenly – saw the valiant efforts of the interviewer to ensure
fair hearing.
“I fail to understand just where the station could be
faulted, except from a disposition for injustice. To sustain that penalty is to
give joy to others who turn Internet into a soakaway for their rancid
emissions, yet feel that others should be silenced.
“If CHANNELS feels up to it, I offer myself willing to
engage Mr. Datti – or any nominee of his – on its platform on this very bone of
contention – one-on-one – without the malodorous intervention of media trolls,
and with the same interviewer as mediator.
“That should be taken as a serious offer,” Soyinka said.
Recall that Datti Baba-Ahmed had called on President
Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief Justice of Nigeria not to swear in Tinubu, who
was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as the winner
of the March 18th presidential election.
The Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, who spoke as a
guest on Channels TV’s Politics Today, insisted that declaring Tinubu a winner
and issuing him a certificate of return was against the constitution.
According to him, “whoever swears in Mr Tinubu” has “ended
Democracy” in Nigeria.
The interview, has since, triggered criticisms from
political stakeholders as well as a N5 million fine for the TV station.
Reacting to Baba-Ahmed’s threats, Soyinka described the
remarks as a “kind of do-or-die attitude and provocation” that goes contrary to
democratic disposition.
He said Baba-Ahmed tried to “dictate to the supreme arbiter
of the nation,” describing his comment as unacceptable.
Soyinka’s comments on Baba-Ahmed, however, attracted
backlashes from the supporters of the Labour Party as they dragged Soyinka on
social media.
Meanwhile, replying to the criticisms and the conduct of
Datti Baba-Ahmed, Soyinka noted that Nigerian Democracy 2023 has witnessed
innovations largely in the retrogressive vein, as violence, ethnic profiling
and intimidation continue to be easily overlooked even as they are directed
against dissenting voices.
Soyinka condemned the sanction against Channels TV and
praised the professionalism of the anchor, who he stressed made several
attempts to keep Baba-Ahmed in check while on air.
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