Why I refer to Tinubu as ‘Olori kunkun’ – Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Sunday visited President Bola Tinubu in Lagos, revealing that he presented a seven-point agenda toward moving Nigeria forward.

Speaking with journalists after the visit, Soyinka said, “I came here with a seven point agenda and we had a very thorough discussion on those items.”

The literary icon recalled that on his earlier visit to Tinubu, it was to tell him not to run for president, noting that the former Lagos State governor ignored his advice.

“My first visit was an embarrassing visit because it was to try and persuade him not to run for office, I think I had written about that. “I told Atiku and himself to please leave the ground so young people could run. That’s the last time we met about five years ago. I call him secretly “olori kunkun” which means the stubborn one. He ignored my advice completely.

“I came to see him to find out how he is doing after neglecting my advice. I wanted to see how he and his wife are faring. I also came to wish them a merry Christmas.

“You know we are old friends. And it was as a friend that I told him ‘don’t run,” he said.

Soyinka, however, refused to rate Tinubu’s performance in office so far, saying his assessment of the current administration will come after one year in office.

According to him, this had been his tradition with Tinubu’s predecessors over the years.

“Something you may have noticed about me is that most heads of state when they come into office, I always leave them alone for about the first year. I know when they come in, they don’t start on ground zero, then often start even lower than that and they have to make up.

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“So, I have this personal policy; whether it’s Obasanjo, Buhari, or Jonathan, you would notice that during the first year I hardly say anything.

“So, I am adopting the same principle this year. At the end one year, come and ask me the same question again,” Soyinka said.