Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Professor Wole Soyinka are time tested foes. Almost always guaranteed to be on opposing sides of the divide, they’re not new to exchanging stinging comments and barbs.
Prof. Soyinka was an ardent critic of the Obasanjo administration, calling the former President out on numerous occasions. However, things seemed to have cooled since President Obasanjo left office-or so we all thought.
It is no secret that Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent autobiography “My Watch” is as controversial as the man himself, making bold judgments of people. He found time to describe Wole Soyinka in less than complimentary language; “For Wole, no one can be good, nor can anything be spot-on politically except that which emanates from him or is ordained by him,” Mr. Obasanjo wrote. “His friends and loved ones will always be right and correct no matter what they do or fail to do.”
He went on to comment in his book’ “He is surely a better wine connoisseur and a more successful “aparo” (guinea fowl) hunter than a political critic, not to talk of what he would do as a politician,” Mr. Obasanjo said. “I take him seriously on almost all issues except on the political particularly Nigerian politics.”
President Obasanjo stood by his views on Prof. Soyinka in an interview with Channels TV yesterday, claiming that it was his perception of Prof. Wole Soyinka.