₦airaland Forum

The Fall Of The Masquerade? Wole Soyinka, 2023, and the Price of Picking Side

_From National Conscience to Tribal Apologist? How One Election Recast a Nobel Laureate_



By Swill Mavua



For 50 years, Wole Soyinka was untouchable.



Prison under Gowon. Exile under Abacha. Nobel Prize in 1986. _The Man Died_. The “conscience of the nation.” When Soyinka spoke, Nigeria listened — not because he was Yoruba, but because he was right. He fought military rule, tore into Obasanjo, mocked Jonathan, and called Buhari “lifeless” to his face.



Then 2023 happened. And the masquerade cracked.



The endorsement that broke the myth. Three men were frontrunners in 2023: Atiku, Obi, Tinubu. Soyinka pitched his tent with Tinubu.



To Obidients, it was treason. How could the man who wrote _You Must Set Forth at Dawn_ back a candidate they saw as “crooked in all ramifications?” A man trailed by Chicago drug allegations, certificate questions, bullion-van politics?



Their verdict was swift: _“He was always a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”_ Others went further: _“He only hid his tribal bigotry. Tinubu is Yoruba. That’s it.”_



Soyinka didn’t help his case. He was reported to have said: _“Anybody who dares Tinubu would have me to contend with.”_ Whether he said it exactly that way or not, Obidients heard a declaration of war. The icon became an enemy combatant.



The silence that became louder than words. After Tinubu was sworn in, Soyinka went mute. For a man who appraised every government from Balewa to Buhari, the silence was deafening. When pressed, he said he’d assess Tinubu “after two years.” Two years passed. Then three. Insecurity metastasized. Naira collapsed. Hunger protests shook states. Soyinka? _Deft as dumb._



To his critics, the silence proved the charge: _He wasn’t a nationalist. He was a Yoruba nationalist._ He could fight Fulani generals and Hausa presidents because they weren’t his. But a Yoruba president? Suddenly the “conscience” took a sabbatical.



His defenders say different: _“Soyinka is 91. He’s earned the right to choose his battles. He said two years, and he’ll speak when he wants.”_ But in Nigeria, two years of hunger is a lifetime. Silence in that window reads as complicity.



The Obi statement that lit the final fire. Then came the 2027 pre-season. Soyinka was reported to have said Peter Obi “should not be allowed to contest.” Reason: the “irrationality” of Obidients.



That broke the dam.



You can’t, critics argue, call yourself a democrat and ask to bar a candidate because you dislike his supporters. You can’t survive Abacha’s gulag only to become what you fought — a gatekeeper. To Obidients, it confirmed everything: _Tinubu made Soyinka reveal himself._



The questions now write themselves:



Has he ever been a true statesman? Yes — if statesman means “critic of power.” He was jailed for Biafra. He risked death under Abacha. He condemned June 12 annulment when many Yoruba elites kept quiet. That’s not tribal. That’s courage.



Is he utterly tribalistic now? The charge sticks because his pattern changed. He called Buhari “clueless” in year one. He’s not called Tinubu anything in year three. He attacked Jonathan’s “corruption” monthly. He’s not attacked Tinubu’s “forgery” allegations once. The selective outrage looks ethnic. And in politics, perception is indictment.



What’s the connection between Tinubu and Soyinka? No one has receipts of money. But they have history. Both NADECO. Both fought Abacha from exile. Both Yoruba, both Lagos. Soyinka once said Tinubu helped him during exile. Loyalty, not tribe, might be the bond. But when loyalty mutes your conscience, the public stops caring about motive. They judge outcome.



The defense Soyinka deserves. To be fair, three facts complicate the “fallen angel” narrative:



- Age and method: At 90 in 2026, Soyinka isn’t leading protests. He writes, he watches. His “two years” promise may be literal. He assessed Buhari after two years too — and called him a failure. He might still eviscerate Tinubu.

- Obidient hostility: Obidients insulted him first — “tribal bigot,” “expired.” He responded by disengaging. You can’t abuse a man and then demand his activism. He told them: _“I don’t owe you respect you didn’t give me.”_

- He never claimed sainthood: Soyinka always said he’s a writer, not a politician. He backed Awolowo, backed Falae, backed Ribadu. He’s been wrong before. Endorsing Tinubu doesn’t erase 60 years of dissent.



The damage that’s already done. But here’s what 2023 cost him: _Moral monopoly._ Before, Soyinka could condemn any government and Nigerians would say “Kongi has spoken.” Now, half the country replies: _“Speak on Tinubu first.”_ He lost the power to be heard without a prefix. Every word now runs through a 2023 filter: _“Is this the tribal Soyinka or the national Soyinka?”_



Tinubu didn’t make Soyinka tribal. 2023 revealed that even icons have ethnic blind spots. Or, worse, that Nigeria’s politics is so toxic it forces even Nobel Laureates to pick village over vision.



Did Tinubu reveal the true Soyinka? Maybe. Or maybe Tinubu revealed the true Nigeria. A country where you’re only a statesman until your kinsman runs. Where “national conscience” expires the day it disagrees with your candidate. Where 90-year-olds are dragged because 30-year-olds are hurting.



Soyinka was never a god. He was a man who chose, for 60 years, to fight power. In 2023 he chose to defend a friend. The tragedy isn’t that he picked Tinubu. It’s that by picking Tinubu, he lost the room. And when the masquerade loses the room, the dance is over.



History will still call him Nobel Laureate. But 2023 will be the footnote that asks: _“Conscience of a nation, or conscience of a tribe?”_ He still has time to answer. The question is whether Nigeria still wants to hear it.


Copied

When wind blows, fowler banshee will open.
Wole Soyinka, Tunde Bakare, etc have been exposed as TRIBAL BIGOTS.

Naughty Professor GBAJUE don kwayet!😁
APC is happening to him. Shame no let am talk again.

Corn fessor, Cornfessor Cornfessor

How the mighty have stooped so low...

Kongi... that name used to make people stop and listen regardless of tribe and religion.

WS was a literal gaint in the eyes of Nigerians, love him or hate him, his criticism was sound. Even when he lambasted GEJ, there was little argument, it was only when he mocked PEJ that a few murmured dissenting echos were heard.

But in comes bat and WS let the masses down. The allegation that some mannerless obidients insulted him first does not hold water. WS has insulted leaders too, so that shouldn't be a big deal.

Aside the issue of military rule, Nigeria is in a worse socio-economic position than anytime after the Biafra war and probably under Buhari's military rule.

Yet, the man has chosen to not only ignore the reality, but provide childish excuses for not speaking up. While WS is well within his rights to keep quiet and 'eat' in peace, he should be decent enough not to rub salt in the festering sore of retrogression inflicted on Nigerians by the bumbling kleptomaniac in power today.

Nevertheless, WS' legacy is written in stone, but now there would be a footnote... he stood for the masses, until he did not...

Validated:
When wind blows, fowler banshee will open.
Wole Soyinka, Tunde Bakare, etc have been exposed as TRIBAL BIGOTS.

.
Cry well well. I buy tears. Nobody in this generation of Africans will ever be as great as Wole Soyinka the only Kongi.

When youths expect a 90+ years old man to help them fight for their rights, you know such youths are a wasted generation.


At 31 years old, Wole Soyinka held a radio station at gun point and broadcasted anti government speech, today’s 31 years old still expect same man who is now 90+ to fight for them. Such youths are just beings, not humans because even animals are not this docile

DatNiggaDaz:


Corn fessor, Cornfessor Cornfessor

.
Look at Nigeria’s youths taking drugs and soaked in alcohol expecting a 90+!years old great grandfather to fight for them. Wole Soyinka fight for their great grandfathers, he fought for their grandfathers, he fought for their fathers, he fought for them, and now the lazy youths still want same man ti fight for their children

jahsharon:
.
Look at Nigeria’s youths taking drugs and soaked in alcohol expecting a 90+!years old great grandfather to fight for them. Wole Soyinka fight for their great grandfathers, he fought for their grandfathers, he fought for their fathers, he fought for them, and now the lazy youths still want same man ti fight for their children

Nobody asked him to fight as he did in the days of our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers.

He promised to assess Tinubu's administration after one year. He didn't. When pressed further, he said he would assess it after two years. Three years have now passed, and there has been no assessment from the Nobel laureate and no review of the Tinubu administration that he promised.

At 90 years old, he may have lost some of his agility, but has he lost his voice? No.

What has been exposed, however, is a man who appears unwilling to apply the same standards consistently, leading many to view him as a tribal partisan rather than the impartial public intellectual he is often portrayed to be.

jahsharon:
.
Look at Nigeria’s youths taking drugs and soaked in alcohol expecting a 90+!years old great grandfather to fight for them. Wole Soyinka fight for their great grandfathers, he fought for their grandfathers, he fought for their fathers, he fought for them, and now the lazy youths still want same man ti fight for their children

You are a youth and the fraud you defend and support is a Chicago dealer. Shamelessnezz.

The cornfessor should assess the maladministration of his kith he helped snatched for. He heloed his child like you to destabilize the government of our son GEJ even though the government of GEJ Was far more better than that of your messiah

All this your uzelezz gaslighting ends in your soul.

enemyofprogress:
The Fall Of The Masquerade? Wole Soyinka, 2023, and the Price of Picking Side

_From National Conscience to Tribal Apologist? How One Election Recast a Nobel Laureate_



By Swill Mavua



For 50 years, Wole Soyinka was untouchable.



Prison under Gowon. Exile under Abacha. Nobel Prize in 1986. _The Man Died_. The “conscience of the nation.” When Soyinka spoke, Nigeria listened — not because he was Yoruba, but because he was right. He fought military rule, tore into Obasanjo, mocked Jonathan, and called Buhari “lifeless” to his face.



Then 2023 happened. And the masquerade cracked.



The endorsement that broke the myth. Three men were frontrunners in 2023: Atiku, Obi, Tinubu. Soyinka pitched his tent with Tinubu.



To Obidients, it was treason. How could the man who wrote _You Must Set Forth at Dawn_ back a candidate they saw as “crooked in all ramifications?” A man trailed by Chicago drug allegations, certificate questions, bullion-van politics?



Their verdict was swift: _“He was always a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”_ Others went further: _“He only hid his tribal bigotry. Tinubu is Yoruba. That’s it.”_



Soyinka didn’t help his case. He was reported to have said: _“Anybody who dares Tinubu would have me to contend with.”_ Whether he said it exactly that way or not, Obidients heard a declaration of war. The icon became an enemy combatant.



The silence that became louder than words. After Tinubu was sworn in, Soyinka went mute. For a man who appraised every government from Balewa to Buhari, the silence was deafening. When pressed, he said he’d assess Tinubu “after two years.” Two years passed. Then three. Insecurity metastasized. Naira collapsed. Hunger protests shook states. Soyinka? _Deft as dumb._



To his critics, the silence proved the charge: _He wasn’t a nationalist. He was a Yoruba nationalist._ He could fight Fulani generals and Hausa presidents because they weren’t his. But a Yoruba president? Suddenly the “conscience” took a sabbatical.



His defenders say different: _“Soyinka is 91. He’s earned the right to choose his battles. He said two years, and he’ll speak when he wants.”_ But in Nigeria, two years of hunger is a lifetime. Silence in that window reads as complicity.



The Obi statement that lit the final fire. Then came the 2027 pre-season. Soyinka was reported to have said Peter Obi “should not be allowed to contest.” Reason: the “irrationality” of Obidients.



That broke the dam.



You can’t, critics argue, call yourself a democrat and ask to bar a candidate because you dislike his supporters. You can’t survive Abacha’s gulag only to become what you fought — a gatekeeper. To Obidients, it confirmed everything: _Tinubu made Soyinka reveal himself._



The questions now write themselves:



Has he ever been a true statesman? Yes — if statesman means “critic of power.” He was jailed for Biafra. He risked death under Abacha. He condemned June 12 annulment when many Yoruba elites kept quiet. That’s not tribal. That’s courage.



Is he utterly tribalistic now? The charge sticks because his pattern changed. He called Buhari “clueless” in year one. He’s not called Tinubu anything in year three. He attacked Jonathan’s “corruption” monthly. He’s not attacked Tinubu’s “forgery” allegations once. The selective outrage looks ethnic. And in politics, perception is indictment.



What’s the connection between Tinubu and Soyinka? No one has receipts of money. But they have history. Both NADECO. Both fought Abacha from exile. Both Yoruba, both Lagos. Soyinka once said Tinubu helped him during exile. Loyalty, not tribe, might be the bond. But when loyalty mutes your conscience, the public stops caring about motive. They judge outcome.



The defense Soyinka deserves. To be fair, three facts complicate the “fallen angel” narrative:



- Age and method: At 90 in 2026, Soyinka isn’t leading protests. He writes, he watches. His “two years” promise may be literal. He assessed Buhari after two years too — and called him a failure. He might still eviscerate Tinubu.

- Obidient hostility: Obidients insulted him first — “tribal bigot,” “expired.” He responded by disengaging. You can’t abuse a man and then demand his activism. He told them: _“I don’t owe you respect you didn’t give me.”_

- He never claimed sainthood: Soyinka always said he’s a writer, not a politician. He backed Awolowo, backed Falae, backed Ribadu. He’s been wrong before. Endorsing Tinubu doesn’t erase 60 years of dissent.



The damage that’s already done. But here’s what 2023 cost him: _Moral monopoly._ Before, Soyinka could condemn any government and Nigerians would say “Kongi has spoken.” Now, half the country replies: _“Speak on Tinubu first.”_ He lost the power to be heard without a prefix. Every word now runs through a 2023 filter: _“Is this the tribal Soyinka or the national Soyinka?”_



Tinubu didn’t make Soyinka tribal. 2023 revealed that even icons have ethnic blind spots. Or, worse, that Nigeria’s politics is so toxic it forces even Nobel Laureates to pick village over vision.



Did Tinubu reveal the true Soyinka? Maybe. Or maybe Tinubu revealed the true Nigeria. A country where you’re only a statesman until your kinsman runs. Where “national conscience” expires the day it disagrees with your candidate. Where 90-year-olds are dragged because 30-year-olds are hurting.



Soyinka was never a god. He was a man who chose, for 60 years, to fight power. In 2023 he chose to defend a friend. The tragedy isn’t that he picked Tinubu. It’s that by picking Tinubu, he lost the room. And when the masquerade loses the room, the dance is over.



History will still call him Nobel Laureate. But 2023 will be the footnote that asks: _“Conscience of a nation, or conscience of a tribe?”_ He still has time to answer. The question is whether Nigeria still wants to hear it.


Copied

The way some of you people from the South East reason is funny


Don't you guys have people In the East who can lead protest and criticise the Government?

This is the same way you guys were attacking Adeboye

Soyinka owes you guys nothing

Ofunaofu:
Nobody asked him to fight as he did in the days of our great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers.

He promised to assess Tinubu's administration after one year. He didn't. When pressed further, he said he would assess it after two years. Three years have now passed, and there has been no assessment from the Nobel laureate and no review of the Tinubu administration that he promised.

At 90 years old, he may have lost some of his agility, but has he lost his voice? No.

What has been exposed, however, is a man who appears unwilling to apply the same standards consistently, leading many to view him as a tribal partisan rather than the impartial public intellectual he is often portrayed to be.

Is there no igbo man who can review the Tinubu administration?

Soyinka owes you nothing

Parachoko:
Is there no igbo man who can review the Tinubu administration?

Soyinka owes you nothing

Deflection is not an argument.

Nobody said only Soyinka can review Tinubu's administration. The point is that Soyinka himself promised to do so and repeatedly moved the goalpost.

And kindly take your tribal bigotry and divisive campaign out of my mentions. The moment your response to a question about accountability is to invoke ethnicity, you've already abandoned the substance of the discussion.

Ofunaofu:
Deflection is not an argument.

Nobody said only Soyinka can review Tinubu's administration. The point is that Soyinka himself promised to do so and repeatedly moved the goalpost.

And kindly take your tribal bigotry and divisive campaign out of my mentions. The moment your response to a question about accountability is to invoke ethnicity, you've already abandoned the substance of the discussion.

If I'm in Soyinka's shoes, I won't review Tinubu's Administration because of the way you Obidients attack him unnecessarily.

You guys should do your worst

We've numerous Igbo pastors and professors who are not saying anything about the Government, nah Yorubas Una like to dey focus on

1vandragon:
How the mighty have stooped so low...

Kongi... that name used to make people stop and listen regardless of tribe and religion.

WS was a literal gaint in the eyes of Nigerians, love him or hate him, his criticism was sound. Even when he lambasted GEJ, there was little argument, it was only when he mocked PEJ that a few murmured dissenting echos were heard.

But in comes bat and WS let the masses down. The allegation that some mannerless obidients insulted him first does not hold water. WS has insulted leaders too, so that shouldn't be a big deal.

Aside the issue of military rule, Nigeria is in a worse socio-economic position than anytime after the Biafra war and probably under Buhari's military rule.

Yet, the man has chosen to not only ignore the reality, but provide childish excuses for not speaking up. While WS is well within his rights to keep quiet and 'eat' in peace, he should be decent enough not to rub salt in the festering sore of retrogression inflicted on Nigerians by the bumbling kleptomaniac in power today.

Nevertheless, WS' legacy is written in stone, but now there would be a footnote... he stood for the masses, until he did not...

OH SHUT UP.

WOLE SOYINKA IS NOT ATTACKING TINUBU BECAUSE HE CAN SEE AND KNOWS THAT TINUBU IS DOING 1000% THE RIGHT THING FOR NIGERIA.

THE REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY AND NAIRA FLOAT WERE ESSENTIAL TO MOVE NIGERIA FORWARD.

PETER OBI HIMSELF PROMISED TO END SUBSIDY "ON DAY ONE" IF ELECTED.

WOULD ANY OF YOU HYPOCRITES HAVE ATTACKED OBI OVER THE SUBSEQUENT HARDSHIP?

CAPITAL NO!

YOU WOULD HAVE HE IS DOING THE NECESSARY THING FOR NIGERIA TO FUNCTION.

SO WHY DO YOU EXPECT WOLE SOYINKA TO ATTACK TINUBU?

SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HATE TINUBU, WOLE SOYINKA MUST ALSO HATE HIM, OTHERWISE HE'S A TRIBALIST?

REALLY?

UTTER NONSENSE!

WHEN HE WAS SITTING IN JAIL PROTESTING ON YOUR BEHALF DURING THE BIAFRA WAR, HE WASN'T A "TRIBALIST".

CAN ANY OF YOU SIT IN JAIL IN SUPPORT OF ANY OTHER ETHNICITY IN NIGERIA?

HOW DARE YOU INSULT SOYINKA BECAUSE HE NOW SUPPORTS HIS KINSMAN HE BELIEVES IS WORKING?

IF HE'S A TRIBALIST, WHY DID HE ATTACK OBASANJO DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION, OR IS OBASANJO A HAUSA MAN?

NONSENSE.

JUST GO AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL WITH YOUR LIVES.

SOYINKA IS 20 TIMES THE MAN ANY OF YOU OBIDIENTS CAN EVER BE.

WHEN YOU ARE READY TO SIT IN JAIL FOR THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER ETHNICITY, THEN YOU CAN TALK.

UNTIL THEN, SHUT UP, BECAUSE WOLE SOYINKA IS NOT YOUR LEVEL.

Kemetian:
OH SHUT UP.

WOLE SOYINKA IS NOT ATTACKING TINUBU BECAUSE HE CAN SEE AND KNOWS THAT TINUBU IS DOING 1000% THE RIGHT THING FOR NIGERIA.

THE REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY AND NAIRA FLOAT WERE ESSENTIAL TO MOVE NIGERIA FORWARD.

PETER OBI HIMSELF PROMISED TO END SUBSIDY "ON DAY ONE" IF ELECTED.

WOULD ANY OF YOU HYPOCRITES HAVE ATTACKED OBI OVER THE SUBSEQUENT HARDSHIP?

CAPITAL NO!

YOU WOULD HAVE HE IS DOING THE NECESSARY THING FOR NIGERIA TO FUNCTION.

SO WHY DO YOU EXPECT WOLE SOYINKA TO ATTACK TINUBU?

SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HATE TINUBU, WOLE SOYINKA MUST ALSO HATE HIM, OTHERWISE HE'S A TRIBALIST?

REALLY?

UTTER NONSENSE!

WHEN HE WAS SITTING IN JAIL PROTESTING ON YOUR BEHALF DURING THE BIAFRA WAR, HE WASN'T A "TRIBALIST".

CAN ANY OF YOU SIT IN JAIL IN SUPPORT OF ANY OTHER ETHNICITY IN NIGERIA?

HOW DARE YOU INSULT SOYINKA BECAUSE HE NOW SUPPORTS HIS KINSMAN HE BELIEVES IS WORKING?

IF HE'S A TRIBALIST, WHY DID HE ATTACK OBASANJO DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION, OR IS OBASANJO A HAUSA MAN?

NONSENSE.

JUST GO AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL WITH YOUR LIVES.

SOYINKA IS 20 TIMES THE MAN ANY OF YOU OBIDIENTS CAN EVER BE.

WHEN YOU ARE READY TO SIT IN JAIL FOR THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER ETHNICITY, THEN YOU CAN TALK.

UNTIL THEN, SHUT UP, BECAUSE WOLE SOYINKA IS NOT YOUR LEVEL.

Take your asinine vituperations elsewhere.

You are writing in all caps as if that would make your statement come across as any less sensible.

If you want to talk about tribalism, respond to the OP, not mine. I didn't call WS a tribalist.

Now take your barely developed medulla elsewhere.