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| Professor Wole Soyinka |
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has
described as ‘abominable distractions,’ statement by the Rivers State
Commissioner for Information, Dr Austin Tam-George, that the state would demand
refund from him (Soyinka) if he collected cash from the ₦82
million allegedly spent by immediate-past Governor, Rotimi Amaechi on a dinner
to honour him.
Vanguard report continues:
Soyinka,
who reacted in a statement on Wednesday night, said it has never been his
business to probe into the “catering and logistical implications” of the
hundreds of recognitions he had enjoyed worldwide and wondered why the Ameachi
gesture has become an issue under the ‘insecure’ incumbent of the Rivers State
government lodge.
Although
he said the allegation has made him saddened and ‘truly despair”, he added that
he was indifferent to it.
Soyinka
in the statement entitled, “Those who flounder in the sewage of corruption,”
said: “This morning, I saw only the headlines in one or two print media
regarding the 80th Birthday dinner to which I was hosted by the former governor
of Rivers State, the Honorable Rotimi Amaechi, now Minister of Transportation.
I ignored them. It was not, and remains not my business to probe into the
catering and logistical implications of the hundreds of institutions and
governments all over the world to whom I acknowledge an immense debt of
unsolicited recognition over the years.
“Since
then however, I have learnt of some unsavory statements by the insecure
incumbent of the Rivers State government Lodge. These included a loose invitation
to anti-crime agencies to investigate the potential crime of being honoured
through any occasion. The unprecedented call by this governor is prescient of a
warning I recounted in my recent pamphlet publication THE REPUBLIC OF LIARS,
and was taken from my address to an anti-corruption global conference that took
place in Tunisia two years ago. Those words were: CORRUPTION STRIKES BACK. In
this ongoing instance, that expression translates most vividly as “Those who
are neck deep in the sewage of corruption ensure that they splatter sewage in
all possible and improbable directions.”
“I do
however fully support the Wikeleaks call for multi-directional probes. I
recommend further that he involve the services of Interpol to guarantee its
extension to all international organizations and governments to whom I owe
uncountable events of recognition – including birthday luncheons, dinners,
cultural receptions and events of real, fictitious, or simply opportunistic
flavoring – to which I have submitted myself.
“The
descent to this present level of abominable distractions makes one truly
despair. It is one that even I did not envisage when I warned – CORRUPTION
STRIKES BACK! Whether it brings honour or dishonour to the nation is another
matter – I am saddened, but indifferent.
“EFCC and company – over to
you! You all know where I live,” noted The Nobel laureate.
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