Like I Did With Buhari, Others, I'll Assess Tinubu's Government After One Year —Soyinka
December 25, 2023

He recalled that he advised Tinubu and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, not to run for office but they ignored him.
Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has stated that he will evaluate President Bola Tinubu's performance after a year in office.

Soyinka, who said this while speaking to reporters following his visit to the Presidential Villa in Lagos on Sunday, noted that it is his policy to only remark about the performance of Nigerian leaders after they have served one year in office.

The literary icon further stated that he came to present Tinubu with his seven-point agenda, adding that the two of them thoroughly discussed the programmes.

He recalled that he advised Tinubu and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar not to run for office but they ignored him.

He said, “Well, actually, it is an embarrassing visit because when I visited him the last time, it was to try and persuade him not to run for office. I think I’ve written about that. I told Atiku and himself that they should please leave the ground for young people. That was the last time we met; about five years ago.

“And I call him secretly, Olori Kunkun, a stubborn man. So he ignored my advice completely.

“So I came to see how he is doing after neglecting my advice. I wanted to see if he and his wife were weathering Nigeria as well as can be expected and to wish them a Happy Christmas. He is an old friend, as you know very well. And it was as a friend that I told him ‘Don’t run, leave this thing alone, but he ignored me.”

When asked if he was now convinced otherwise regarding his advice to Tinubu not to run for President, Soyinka said, “You know something you may have noticed about me that most heads of state when they take office, I always leave them alone for about the first year.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen that. If you’ve noticed that because I know when they come in, they don’t start from Ground Zero. They often start even lower than Ground Zero and they have to make up, so I have this personal policy, whether it’s Obasanjo or Buhari or Jonathan. You notice that in the first year, I hardly ever say anything and then people ask me why I’m not talking, I say go and ask the last person whether I spoke during the first year. So I’m adopting the same principle this year. At the end of one year, ask me that question again.”

“Ohh, that’s very simple. I came here with a 7-point agenda and we had a very thorough discussion on those items,” he added.