Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has distanced himself from a viral post linking him to the endorsement of the presidential ambition of a former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The elder statesman in a statement on Wednesday titled, “Season of Fakery Galore,” described the authors of the post as illiterate public interlopers who lacked the courage of their conviction and must steal identities of their betters.
The post, embedded with the pictures of Soyinka and Tinubu, went viral on the Internet last November and quoted Soyinka as saying, “I have never involve myself in politics or campaign for any politician but in 2023 I will involve in politics and campaign for longtime friend in 1993 NADECO struggle. Nobel laurel, Professor Wole Soyinka.”
The post returned to public space after Tinubu on Monday said that he had declared his intention to run for presidency in 2023 to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).
Soyinka said, “Here we go again. The same boring, illiterate public interlopers who lack the courage of their conviction and must steal the identities of their betters. One can only hope that the public has learnt to identify Fake News and join in the urgent task of exposing and disgracing these despicable touts.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I have not even thought 2023, much less inserted candidates into coveted positions. The signature of this latest moron is familiar – he or she does not even know the difference between ‘Laureate and Laurel.’
“This is an ancient forgery being recycled for the umpteenth time. Those who pass it round do themselves and their recipients a disservice. Find something worthwhile to occupy your time.
“In any case, we have no business with politics in the land of the dead, and the most recent information I have on me is that I died sometime last year. The email account of the year’s Nobel ‘Laurel”‘ was hacked by these same agents to publicise my demise, so who is this still politicking WS ‘Laurel’?”
The playwright was rumoured dead last year after hackers used the social media handle of Tanzania novelist and winner of 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah, to announce his demise. (Punch)
