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Encounter with Soyinka: Nobody can strip me of my Nigerianness – Igboanugo
Veteran journalist and Publisher of Whirlwindnews.com.ng, Sunny Igboanugo on Monday, announced the release of a book, detailing his encounter with Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka over issues relating to the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
The book titled: Soyinka’s Metamorphosis, Echoes from the “People’s Mandate,” is a response to an earlier publication by the literary icon titled: Baiting Igbophobia, The Sunny Igboanugo Thesis, where he tackled the journalist over an earlier article relating to the outcome of the 2023 presidential polls.
In a statement announcing the debut of the book, his riposte to Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Igboanugo, while acknowledging the challenges embedded in the profession, some of them life-threatening, explained that his effort was a protest to the course the nonagenarian took on the issue.
He particularly lamented that instead of treating the said article on its merit, Soyinka veered off into ethnic issues, which were never raised therein either directly or through inference, noting that this trend has not only been quite prevalent in the polity today, but posed great danger to Nigeria.
He bemoaned that globally-acclaimed playwright, who had put his immense skill to good use and devoted the larger part of his rewarding life on earth to challenging oppression, advocating human freedom and speaking truth to power would now be associated with this ugly trend, adding it not only underscores a sudden metamorphosis, but traumatic if not heart-rending.
Igboanugo, who detailed some of the travails he encountered in the three decades of practice, including the years of his active advocacy for the struggle to revalidate the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, now confirmed to have been won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, some of them in near brushes with death, vowed that he would neither be intimidated nor succumb to any attempt to deny him his Nigerianness.
Hear him: “None of these, has brought me to the devastating level of distress I experienced in the last few months, since this book by Prof. Soyinka came to my attention. It almost brought me to the state of emotional wreck. The said book, under his INTERVENTION SERIES, was in response to my article of September 19, 2023.
“In the said opinion piece that triggered the mighty pen of the literary giant, I had tried, purely in line of duty, to establish the motive behind the Prof’s posturing about the 2023 presidential election, particularly with reference to Peter Obi and the Labour Party. In expounding my logic, I tried to stay the course, as a professional ought to, never delving into personal attacks or insinuating anything untoward against the revered sage.
“But what did I get in reply? In his riposte via the book, the Prof. only made a scant mention of the content of the article in question. Instead, he devoted the rest to attacking my Igbo identity. Surely, if the sage, had descended on me as a person, if he had reduced me as less than Nebuchadnezzar, as he once labelled, former President Goodluck Jonathan, I would have remained mute and probably continued with my trade the way I know it.
“Reading the book itself, he did exactly that. He treated me to a lavish buffet of his legendary tongue-lashing. But he did not stop at describing my persona in the most terrible terms or attacking my professional competence. For this alone there would not have been any form of contest in the form of a riposte.
“My pain was the attempt by the Prof. to strip me of my identity as a Nigerian and closet me in purely ethnic straightjacket. There was nothing in the original piece from me that suggested any ethnic link by any stroke imagination. The only link I tried to establish was that the NADECO affinity the Nobel Laureate shares with President Bola Tinubu as veterans of the June 12 struggle. My take was that it was the binding factor.
“I tried to explain how, having struggled together through the thick and thin of the NADECO era they had developed the compelling need to watch each other’s back no matter the circumstances. I argued that such relationship would naturally create personal indebtedness too difficult to break.
“That was all my piece was all about. Even though the said article had one or two factual errors which the Prof. did not fail to point out in his book, they did not detract from the texture of the reasoning that formed the basis for holding my views. The emphasis was on the affinity that existed between him and Tinubu.
“I was therefore completely aghast when the Prof. took the issue completely out of context and veered into ethic labelling. That the Prof. would take that route is my idea of a complete metamorphosis. I would not in my wildest imagination assume that the Soyinka of The Man Died fame would descend into such arena occupied by less-endowed in the society. Ordinarily, I would have depended on him to defend my right and freedom to speak my mind. But that did not happen.
“That informed my determination to reply through this effort. I have decided to tell my own story to establish my true identity and insist on it. The content of this book, my own riposte, is to reveal that the Prof. is totally wrong on this.
“In fact, some people still latching on similar ethnic sentiments, tried to dissuade me by pulling up what they advertised as the pro-Biafra sentiments of the Prof. They raised the issue of how he tried to help the Igbo during the civil war advising that I should ignore him.
“That even strengthened my position, because I believe keeping silent would help in strengthening the ethnic slurs that have now become the burden of the Igbo man, because the likes of the Prof. are keeping silent and, in some cases promoting it. Those who read his book will not miss this trend. I believe that such a figure who stood against the bad hand dealt the Igbo people of Biafra at such a young age, should even do more now that age has added more insight and knowledge to him.
“I believe my reply would reactivate his memory and remind him of who he truly is in the history of Nigeria. It was a duty I felt compelled to do. How did the Igbo come into such a plain discourse? So, an Igbo man cannot contribute to any subject in today’s Nigeria without being told from whence he is coming? Even a journalist? This is the essence of this book. This book is therefore a PROTEST! I am not only protesting with this book as an individual, but to draw global attention to the dangerous trend that has become the lot of Ndigbo today, where they are being deliberately targeted as the culprits to anything that goes wrong in the country.
“I am insisting that nobody can take away my Nigerianess. I am aware that I am a global dwarf compared to the dominating image of Prof. Wole Soyinka globally. I do not compete with him or attempt to do so in any way. His own book, as usual, is already making waves nationally and internationally like many other of his works.
“Mine may make little impact. But whatever impact it makes, even if it is read by one person, I will be glad that someone outside myself would have heard my story. That is why I am happy today. For the first time in months, I have once again regained some level of personal calm. I have told my story, from my little corner of the world space. Let Prof. Wole Soyinka have the world stage, but allow me to have my corner where my voice, no matter how tiny will be allowed to echo. That is my prayer.
“Of course, aside my protest, I have also used this book to try and tell the full story based on my views and how I captured the 2023 general election, particularly that of the presidential polls of February 25. It is a full package that tried to puncture some of the assertions out there in the public domain, including those made by the Nobel Laureate made regarding the election.
“I tried to capture the full sequence of events, their meaning and how they affected the outcome of the election in the most unbiased manner and in the end declared who I believe won the election between Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
“In the end, just as I spoke some 31 years ago on June 12, I spoke as professionally as any individual in the book. I shall continue to do so in the future. I spoke yesterday, I am speaking today and I shall speak tomorrow. I shall not only speak as an Igbo, I shall speak as a Nigerian – Nigerian with my full chest. Just like Prof. Wole Soyinka, a Yoruba or Adamu, an Hausa will speak!”
Fuel marketers across Abuja on Wednesday continued to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, at old prices more than 24 hours after Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a reduction in its ex-depot price, Vanguard is reporting.
The paper reported that its investigation, showed that major retail outlets were yet to adjust their pump prices despite the N75 per litre reduction announced by the refinery on Monday.
At the retail stations visited in Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Retail and TotalEnergies dispensed petrol at N1,335 per litre, while AA Rano sold at N1,350 per litre. AYM Shafa and Conoil outlets sold the product at N1,330 per litre.
The development comes amid growing public expectations that the reduction in Dangote Refinery’s gantry price would quickly translate into lower pump prices nationwide.
Explaining the delay, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, said retail prices are influenced by several factors beyond refinery gate prices.
Speaking to Channels TV, Gillis-Harry said: “Prices reflecting at the pump are dependent on availability of the product, the other is the cost. The cost of purchasing the product and cost in terms of logistics, and preparing the particular petroleum to be delivered to the people”.
According to him, downward price adjustments often take longer to reach consumers because marketers need to recover the cost of existing stock purchased at higher prices before restocking at lower rates.
When asked why increases in fuel prices are usually reflected immediately while reductions are delayed, Gillis-Harry said the dynamics of supply management play a significant role.
He explained: “It is mainly affected by whether the producer has additional resources or not at the time. Increases in prices are mainly caused by the need to restock. There must be that advantage pushing the price upward to be able to pay for new supplies.”
He further acknowledged that marketers generally seek to exhaust existing inventory before implementing lower prices.
“That’s the basic idea. But in petroleum, a mixture is involved, and loss is taken, though not in a way that affects the capital needed to restock,” he added.
Also speaking on the issue, energy analyst Olabode Sowunmi said fuel pricing in Nigeria is influenced by a combination of domestic supply arrangements and logistics costs, rather than crude oil prices alone.
He noted that although international crude oil prices remain an important factor globally, their impact on local petrol pricing is not always direct.
“Global price of crude oil is a factor internationally and not necessarily in Nigeria,” Sowunmi said.
Explaining that Dangote Refinery operates under arrangements that allow a portion of crude supply to be priced in naira, reducing the direct impact of international market fluctuations on local fuel prices, he said: “So basically the issue will have to be from the point of refinery to where it touches the final person. Logistics costs within the domestic supply chain remain a major determinant of the final pump price paid by consumers.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
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