Ex—Presidential aide slams Peter Obi for refusing to celebrate Wole Soyinka on 90th Birthday
Former Presidential Aide, Reno Omokri, has slammed former Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, following his silence during the 90th birthday celebration of Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka.
Omokri described Obi’s act as “predictably and pettily”, saying “it is the cornerstone of decency to at least honour him.”
He said this in a statement he shared via his X handle on Saturday July 13.
The statement reads: “Very predictably and pettily, Peter Obi has refused to celebrate Professor Wole Soyinka on his 90th birthday. And this is a man who wants to be Nigeria’s President.
“How many times does a legend like Professor Soyinka celebrate such a milestone? It is the cornerstone of decency to at least honour him, even if you no longer see eye to eye with him.
“If you keep malice with your citizens, how can you govern them? If you only celebrate those you like, how can you preside over the whole country? You will divide the country.
“A man who lacks the emotional intelligence to work with people he does not like cannot make a good leader. He will be partial, parochial and sectional.
“Professor Wole Soyinka is the only Nigerian Nobel laureate and the first Black African to win a Nobel in an academic field. The whole world is celebrating him. Yet, in his country, a pretender to the throne ignores him.
“Meanwhile, last year, when you, Peter Obi, sought his support, you referred to him as “one of Nigeria’s most revered figures and an international literary icon.” But this year, he suddenly became a nobody to you.
“During the campaigns, there was nobody more anti-Tinubu than me. I travelled to investigate him. I protested against him. Yet, he acknowledged me and praised my virtues on my fiftieth birthday. That is a leader. Someone who can rise against personal feelings for national reconciliation. Again; I repeat: that is a leader. And what he did for me, he has also done for the greater Professor Soyinka.
Peter, you are not a leader. You are just a trader. Focus on trading. You have no future in leading.
“Happy ninetieth birthday, Professor Wole Soyinka. Your life has been a pattern of good works. Your service to Nigeria is remembered. Your contribution to humanity is admired. You are a beacon of light from Nigeria to the world. A man who has illuminated people’s minds with brilliant works of literature and liberated people from oppression through valiant acts of activism. You are a specimen of what it is to be an Omoluabi. And no big surprise because the light in you was first in your mother, the late great Mrs. Eniola Soyinka. Thank you for a well-lived life, and I wish you more years on Earth.”
