Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Monday, has slammed Nigerians who made critical comments about his decision to destroy his US green card in protest to the victory of Donald Trump in the country’s November 8 presidential election.
Soyinka, who made the vow in the run up to the election where Trump defied all predictions to win, vowed to hold a private funeral on January 20, 2017, the day the United States President-elect, Donald Trump, will be sworn in.
He also threatened move his foundation out of the country all in protest against unwarranted commentaries generated by the Green card issue.
He had, last week, in Johannesburg, South Africa, told the world that he had destroyed his Green Card to protest the election of Donald Trump in the last U.S presidential election.
Soyinka spoke in Lagos on the controversy that arose over his threat to destroy his American Green Card.
According to the highly celebrated writer, the private wake will have nothing to do with U.S. politics but the death of common sense among Nigerians.
“I’m going to hold a private wake on inauguration day not to mourn the decision of Americans in the choice of President but to mourn the death of Nigeria common sense,” he said.
He said the commentaries generated, especially on social media, by his threat to destroy his Green Card might force him to “Wolexit.” “Wolexit” is a term coined by the literary icon after the “Brexit” referendum in the United Kingdom.
Soyinka, who had earlier used the term to describe his decision to quit the U.S, however, said he had not decided the nature the “Wolexit” might take as it could either be internal (which would see him withdrawing to his Abeokuta sanctuary (Ijegba), external, or mixed.
For Soyinka, the entire episode is like the “theatre of the absurd.”
He said he was surprised that it was something even worth the fuss it generated. “I hope to leave here today with a little knowledge. I’m puzzled and I don’t know what the fuss is all about. Why do you wail more than the bereaved? I’m addressing these illiterates who feel they want to make themselves heard,’’ he said.
He said he had undertaken similar gestures of protests in the past. Going back in time, the literary icon recalled how he destroyed his national medal during a protest at the Race Course (also known as Tafawa Balewa Square) in Lagos in a protest he undertook with late Tai Solarin.
He said: “I took out my national honour medal and I stamped on it. I could have done something else but I would be accused of indecent exposure.
“Trump is not really my problem. What really matters is the rhetoric that got him there especially against Nigerians. People react in their own ways and I don’t go fighting them for it. Expression is not only by words but it (is) also by actions. ‘When I take such actions, I don’t want people on behalf of whom we took these actions to express themselves in vulgar manner.’’
In reaction to this developmnet, the palpably angry Soyinka said he had decided to move the Soyinka foundation out of Nigeria.
He said, “I’m embarrassed that I’m occupying the same nation space with these imbeciles. You have to deal with power and have to deal with those who have to deal with power. Nigerians should realise how ridiculous they make themselves.
‘’The Nigerian personal is gaining notoriety all over the world. That is why Trump latched on the existing narrative. You want to see evidence? I will put it on Ogun shrine because I live on Ogun principles. Something has to give.
“There will be certain actions I might take or refuse to take as a result of this. There has to be a significant event on my side in response to the obscene and unwarranted attacks. I’m going to move the residency of my foundation out of the country. I have already started it. It is my property. I am moving my foundation out of Nigeria.”
