Wole Soyinka warns Nigerians to be wary of ex-President who pretends to be the conscience of the nation
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has asked Nigerians to be wary of a former President who pretends to be the conscience of the nation.
Soyinka said this in Abuja on Wednesday at a symposium on fake news organised by BBC News.
The playwright, who was a panellist at the event tagged, ‘Nigeria 2019: Countering Fake News’, urged the traditional media not to act like the electronic media by spreading unfounded allegations.
The Nobel Laureate said if the former leader had been referring to a certain person for eight years as a devil and is now telling Nigerians to vote for the devil, then there was a reason for Nigerians to express some doubt.
Soyinka said, “We have got to develop a very healthy scepticism. If someone in a position of power for eight years has lectured a nation for eight years and after that continued year after year to continue to direct the minds of a whole nation in one direction only saying ‘this is Lucifer from hell’ for eight years in office and several more years out of office saying this is Lucifer and then one day he changed his left hand and says behold your redeemer, which of the two is fake news?”
He did not mention the former President he was referring to.
