Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has charged the Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, not to unleash scorpions on the memories of Nigerians.
He made this assertion while speaking at a media parley in Lagos on Thursday against the backdrop of the appointment of Senator Iyiola Omisore as the National Secretary of the APC at the just-concluded National Convention of the party which was held in Abuja from March 26 to 27.
The theme of the press briefing was: ‘Forget The Past, Forfeit The future: A Nation Seceding From Humanity.’
Soyinka, who spoke alongside human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN, said he saw no reason why a criminal suspect like Omisore who had been implicated in the murder of the late Attorney general and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige should be lionized by the APC and appointed National Secretary of the party, adding that he was ready to face anybody in court and be involved in legal proceedings to unravel his killers.
“We are talking of the party of those in charge of the governance and justice of this country. The leadership of APC and I are not talking of Buhari alone, do you have to unleash scorpions on our memory? It is not Soyinka who provided this. It’s those who were so insensitive, who rubbed that murder in our faces. I will be delighted to go to court so that we can go into details. I ask6 the APC leadership to have a rethink because the issue will not go away.”
The Nobel Laureate went down memory lane when he spoke about how Omisore was instrumental to miscreants removing Ige’s cap at the palace of the Ooni of Ife shortly before he was murdered in his Ibadan residence, adding that the fact that Ige was decapped had many connotations, playing on the word “decap” and linking it to “decapitation.” “We all know what that meant,” he averred
“So, wherever, you look, that action of humiliating, disgracing a highly respected individual, a traditional Chief and Minister of Justice, who was a guest in a revered environment that leads to something sooner or later. And we are saying that that action alone and the consequence of it disqualifies whoever initiated that action from aspiring to a position like that.
“That doesn’t mean you were responsible for the person’s death. But certain actions led to other actions,” he added.
The accomplished writer also said such a criminal suspect should be made an envoy if the party desired to give him a post but not make him National Secretary of that party.
Soyinka also said President Muhammadu Buhari has reneged on the promise he made during his electioneering campaign to reopen the cases of unsolved murders, including that of the late Minister of Justice. He, therefore, called on him to reopen those cases.
Falana, on his part, while responding to the Nobel Laureate’s speech said he was ready to represent him if he was sued as he had been threatened.
“If you are sued, we will represent you free of charge because you are taking on a public issue,” he noted.
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