Obasanjo Is An Overgrown Child Of Circumstance

 

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has described former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an overgrown child of circumstance in his new book called InterInventions: Between Defective Memory and the Public Lie – A Personal Odyssey in the Republic of Liars.

Soyinka who presented the book to the media in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday said he was poised to draw blood with his new book though he admitted that he  used to be friendly with Obasanjo and even admitted in the book that some stakeholders were making efforts to reconcile them but he said he sees it as a fundamental duty to respond to the lies Obasanjo allegedly told against him in his latest biography, titled, My Watch, which he described in the InterInventions as Three-Carat Watch.

The inauguration of the Soyinka Foundation, held at the MKO Abiola Cultural Centre, Kuto and it attracted dignitaries such as the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Edo State  Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of Ekiti Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Rivers Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and Cross River states Mr. Donald Duke. The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo also graced the occasion.

Here are some of Soyinka’s words from his book “I brainstormed with him over meals both when he was military Head of State  in Dodan Barracks and in his home, Ota, for sometime after he left office and early in Aso Rock at his ‘second coming.’ Today, it is a different situation. If he offered to host me, I would wait until he had first swallowed a morsel from the same dish”

“I had fully attuned myself to the fact that our Owu retiree soldier and prolific author is an infliction that those of us who share the same era and nation space must learn to endure. However, it does appear to me that there is no end to this individual’s capacity for infantile mischief, and for needless, mind-boggling provocations, such as his recent ‘literary’ intrusion on my peace”.

The book also contained Soyinka comment on the controversy over the ownership and leadership of the board of the Centre for Culture and International Understanding, over which he and former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola recently exchanged words.