Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has described a viral video showing some members of the Pyrates confraternity mocking the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Sen Bola Tinubu as “distasteful”.
Soyinka bared his mind in a statement released on Monday, August 8, 2022, in reaction to the video which has gone viral on social media and WhatsApp.
In the video, young men dressed in white and red can be seen dancing and singing, “Baba wey no well e dey shout emi lo man (Baba that is sick is saying it’s his turn)”, and “hand dey shake (hand that shakes)”.
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In disassociating himself from the group he is widely with, Soyinka stated that he was appalled by the conduct of the Pyrates.
He said, “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,” he said.
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“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.”