Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has released a statement clarifying his meeting with Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi. In the statement, Soyinka said that the discussions were frank and creative, but the word “reconciliation” was never mentioned. He called the use of the word in some reports a “diversionary invocation.” Soyinka explained that there were expressions of burden of leadership, responsibility, apology, pleading, and formal dissociation from the untenable, but the notion of reconciliation was clearly None Applicable (N/A).
Soyinka also clarified that there were no issues to reconcile between himself, Peter Obi, and the Labour Party. However, he expressed his inability to relate to something known as the “Obidient” or “Obidient Family,” and any notion of reconciliation with such a spectral emanation is simply grasping at empty air.
The statement goes on to highlight the opening up of the dark, putrid recesses in the national psyche that we like to pretend do not exist during the weekend of orgiastic rave in the social media. Soyinka added that he has offered essays on the theme of Reconciliation based on Truth, and the ethical imperative of Restitution. There will be further elaborations forthcoming in Democracy Primer III.
Overall, Soyinka’s statement clarifies his meeting with Peter Obi and highlights the importance of truth and ethical imperative of restitution in reconciliation