Categories: BREAKING NEWSPOLITICS

Prof. Soyinka Dissociates Self From Video Of Pyrates Confraternity Mocking Tinubu’s Health, Shaky Hands, Calls It Distasteful

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has dissociated himself from a video showing some members of the National Association of Seadogs, popularly known as the Pyrates Confraternity, mocking the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election, Bola Tinubu.

In the video, members of the Confraternity during a procession gyrated to an anti-Tinubu song and poked fun at the former Lagos State governor for a speech he made in June in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he asked that power should be handed over to him.

The members of the Pyrates Confraternity sang, “Hand dey shake, leg dey shake, Baba wey no well, e de shout emi lo kan (Hands are shaking, legs are shaking. A sick old man is shouting ‘it’s my turn’).

“Emi lo kan (2ce), Baba wey no well, him dey shout emi lokan (It’s my turn (2ce), a sick old man is shouting ‘it’s my turn’”.

Tinubu, who seemed desperate during the speech, said, ‘Emi lo kan’, meaning ‘It’s my turn’.

Tinubu narrated how he consoled President Muhammadu Buhari after he had failed three times to become Nigeria’s President. Eventually, a political alliance spearheaded by Tinubu ensured Buhari won the presidential election in 2015.

However, Soyinka who founded Pyrates Confraternity as a university student in Ibadan, Nigeria, described making a mockery of Tinubu due to his ill-health as distasteful.

Sponsored

He said, “My attention has been drawn to a video clip making internet rounds, of a dancing and chanting group, in red and white costume, purportedly members of the Pyrates Confraternity.

“The display acidly targets a presidential candidate in the awaited 2023 elections. Since the whole world knows of my connection with that fraternity, it is essential that I state in clear, unambiguous terms, that I am not involved in that public performance, nor in any way associated with the sentiments expressed in the songs. Like any other civic group, the Pyrates Confraternity is entitled to its freedom of expression, individually or collectively.

“So also is Wole Soyinka in his own person. I do not interfere in, nor do I attempt to dictate the partisan political choices of the Confraternity. I remain unaware that the association ever engages in a collective statement of sponsorship or repudiation of any candidate. This is clearly a new and bizarre development, fraught with unpredictable consequences.

“In addition, let me make the following cultural affirmation. I have listened to the lyrics of the chant intently and I am frankly appalled. I find it distasteful. I belong to a culture where we do not mock physical afflictions or disabilities. Very much the contrary. The Yoruba religion indeed designate a deity, Obatala, as the divine protector of the afflicted, no matter the nature of such affliction. This sensibility is engrained in us from childhood and remains with us all our lives. It operates on the principle of mortal frailty to which all humanity remains vulnerable.

“One of my favorite authors, about whom, by a coincidence, I had cause to write quite recently, was CLR James, author of The Black Jacobins, Beyond A Boundary etc. etc. I called him my ideological uncle. He suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, but remained alert, lucid and combative for decades after the onset of the disease. We interacted politically at the Tanzanian pan-African Congress, the Dakar Festival of Negro Arts and a number of other cultural and political fora. We met frequently in his lifetime, dined together in restaurants, despite his challenge. it would be unthinkable, and a desecration of his memory to be part of any activity that mocked his affliction.

“A further statement will be issued when I have made further enquiries into this strange, uncharacteristic outing of the association.”

SPONSORED
ABN TV EDITOR

ABN TV is one of the most visited news platform across Nigeria and the world over. It has carved a niche for itself in delivering authentic, accurate news.

Recent Posts

Tinubu’s Economic Reforms Not Responsible For Hunger, Stampede — FG

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has warned politicians against linking stampedes…

3 hours ago

Ohafia Community In Mourning As Trailer Crushes Many Christmas Travelers To Death (Photos, Video)

Ohafia, Abia State, was plunged into mourning on Sunday following a tragic accident involving a…

3 hours ago

After 25 Years, Democracy Yet To Meet Citizen’s Expectations — Bugaje

An Islamic scholar and political activist, Dr. Usman Bugaje, has highlighted the inability of the…

9 hours ago

Tinubu’s 2025 Budget Full Of Unrealistic Expectations, Says SDP’s Adebayo

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general elections, Prince…

11 hours ago

VP Shettima Saddened Over Stampedes That Killed Dozens Of People, Says It’s National Tragedy

Vice President Kashim Shettima has mourned the victims of the recent tragic stampedes that claimed…

11 hours ago

Yuletide: NACA Urges Nigerians To prioritize Their Health, Know Their HIV Status

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS has advised Nigerians to prioritize their health…

13 hours ago