The Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has asked the Osun State government to accept his resignation from the position of Chairman of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) in Osogbo, Osun State.
This was contained in a release signed by him and titled “Unfinished Business in the CBCIU”, which was made available to newsmen on Saturday.
The statement reads as follows:
“The resumption of hearing on the Oyinlola versus Osun case of wrongful dismissal strikes me as a compelling juncture at which to express my frustration and embarrassment at the persistence of sectors of the media in designating the situation as some kind of hustle for position between two individuals.
“This is painful reductionism. In any case, I am left with no choice but to openly demand of the governor of Osun State the immediate and formal acceptance of my resignation letter from CBCIU chairmanship. In that resignation letter of July 14, 2015, my position was spelt out in part, as follows:
“I undertook this assignment on principle – quite apart from my sentimental attachment to the political constituency of my late friend, Bola Ige, assassinated by those very forces against which CBCIU must remain resolutely embattled. More relevant however is that I have always found it despicable conduct when an elected individual diverts the resources of the people over whom he presides to carving out for himself a sinecure. Self-service should not be read in the vocabulary of anyone fortunate enough to be called to serve his or her people.
“My layman understanding – backed, fortunately, by consultations – is that this is a legal tussle between Prince Oyinlola, former governor of Osun State and his coterie on the one hand, and the incumbent government of Ogbeni Rauf Arigbesola, and his House of lawgivers on the other.
“Let me repeat this: I have NOT instituted any case against either governor, nor have I been issued with any summons to appear either as plaintiff or respondent. The CBCIU is of course the object of contention, but the CBCIU is not listed among my personal possessions or creations. To play a variation on the late MKO Abiola’s favorite sayings: while I do occasionally loan out my head to crack a coconut, I deplore any attempt to have it shaved in my absence. I am not a party to this case!”, he added.
