Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel prize winner in literature, has challenged the Labour Party Vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, to a one-on-one inter on Channels Television.
The Nobel laureate offered himself for a debate in a statement titled, “FASCISM ON COURSE”, where he reacted to a cyber attack from OBIdients, describing them as one of the most repulsive and off-putting concoctions he has encountered in any political arena.
Meanwhile, Baba-Ahmed while appearing on Channels TV’s Politics Today, had stressed that “whoever swears in Mr Tinubu” has “ended Democracy” in Nigeria, a position which Soyinka described as dictating to the judiciary and inappropriate.
While condemning a N5 million fine slammed on Channels TV station by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) over the interview, Soyinka said the station was faulted from a disposition for injustice.
“May I seize this opportunity, by the way, to condemn the sanctions imposed on CHANNELS Television which anchored the performance of the LP candidate. As stated, I watched the programme keenly – saw the valiant efforts of the interviewer to ensure fair hearing. I fail to understand just where the station could be faulted, except from a disposition for injustice. To sustain that penalty is to give joy to others who turn Internet into a soakaway for their rancid emissions, yet feel that others should be silenced,” Soyinka said.
The Nobel prize winner, however, while maintaining his position on Datti’s comments as contrary to democratic disposition, offered himself for a debate with Peter Obi’s running-mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed.
“If CHANNELS feels up to it, I offer myself willing to engage Mr. Datti – or any nominee of his – on its platform on this very bone of contention – one-on-one – without the malodorous intervention of media trolls, and with the same interviewer as mediator. That should be taken as a serious offer,” he added.
(Courtesy: Nigerian Tribune)
