I’ll speak on Tinubu govt when I have something to say – Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, says he will speak on President Bola Tinubu’s government when he has something to say, asking Nigerians not to set a timetable for him.

Soyinka, who made this statement on The Morning Brief, a programme on Channels Television on Monday, also warned those asking him to fulfill his promise to assess Tinubu’s administration after one year in office, which elapsed on May 29, 2024.

“People should stop trying to work on my timetable for me. I have not swallowed an alarm clock. I don’t see why I should put my alarm on and say, ‘One year has passed, now I must make an assessment,’ if there is nothing I feel like talking about and if I am busy elsewhere,”; he said.

Recall that on December 24, 2023, Soyinka visited Tinubu at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos.

When asked during the visit to assess Tinubu’s administration, which started on May 29, 2023, the nonagenarian said he would reserve his comments on Tinubu’s government until after one year, in May 2024.

Meanwhile, critics have accused Tinubu of mismanaging the economy, citing all-time high inflation and an unprecedented cost of living.

Tinubu’s administration will be two years in office by May 29, 2025, and many had expected Soyinka to fulfill his promise.

However, the Nobel Laureate said many conscientious persons had been speaking and that assessing any government is a collective responsibility of like-minded individuals.

“This business of ‘you haven’t come to do this,’ I don’t understand it. Other people are doing the same; this is a collective effort. The Falanas speak consistently. The Baiyewus speak consistently. The Sowores come out and try to lead demonstrations. It’s a collective effort.

“The one year is up, which means you have a right, and I have a responsibility to respond when you call me on certain issues. But if you are saying that I should call a press conference and say, ‘One year is up, let us now make an assessment’—

“The only question I’d ask you is: ‘Did I do that with Jonathan?’ ‘Did I do that with Buhari?’ ‘Did I do that with Obasanjo?’ ‘Did I do that with anybody?’ So why is it expected of me?

“All it means is that one year is up. If I am around and you want to get hold of me, I will speak. That’s all that statement meant,”; Soyinka added.