‘I do not regret supporting Buhari'- Wole Soyinka

Soyinka also said that Nigeria would not have existed, if former President Goodluck Jonathan won the just concluded elections.

 

Playwright and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka in an interview, revealed that he supported President Muhammadu Buhari during the elections, adding that he does not regret taking that decision.

Soyinka also said that Nigeria would not have existed, if former President Goodluck Jonathan won the just concluded elections.

He said this on a Channels Television programme- Channels Book Club

He said “We were left with two credible contestants in terms of catchment area for the nation. We had reached, in my view, the bottom. I became convinced that if this country underwent four more years under President Jonathan, the country would run aground completely. I looked at the record and said this cannot go on, this has to stop.

“Then I looked at this man who had contested elections three times before and said he would not contest anymore and then decided to throw his hat in the ring. I talked to people and I said do you know what you’re doing?”

Soyinka also said “And after weighing all the options, I said let’s try a new one. And since in electoral terms, he was the one, I guardedly, with reservations, announced that no, not a continuation under Jonathan.

“And so very reluctantly, I want this on record, because I made it quite clear, I weighed the two of them and I said this nation stands a better chance under Buhari. And what has been coming out now? Look at all that has been coming out? Look at the figures (loot) which virtually hammer one into the ground just the sheer enormity of the robbery of this nation that is getting exposed progressively. It shows that we did not make a bad choice.”

Prof. Wole Soyinka was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the first African to be honoured in that category.