“I Never Called Patience Jonathan An Illiterate” – Prof. Wole Soyinka

 

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka had the following statement credited to him after the emergence of There-is-God-o video: “When you marry an illiterate woman as a wife, you will definitely make stupid decisions like Jonathan”. Read the statement he released after the break

“While I have on occasion found myself compelled to publicly chastise Mrs. Jonathan over unacceptable conduct, I have NEVER referred to her as “illiterate” nor linked President Jonathan’s governance with his wife’s educational attributes or lack thereof. I therefore repudiate this statement that could only have stemmed from some ignorant clod, who is additionally devoid of the moral courage of his or her own untenable convictions. To attribute to me the slightest interest in the choice of a spouse by man or woman is a complete travesty of my near obsessive belief in the sanctity of private relationships. I intend to take whatever legal steps are available once we have succeeded in tracing the source of this execrable material.Let me take this opportunity to announce yet again that I do not tweet, blog or whatever goes on in this increasingly promiscuous medium.”

“I do not run a Facebook, even though I am aware that one or two serious-minded individuals/groups have instituted some such forum on their own, for the purpose of disseminating factual information on my activities. I neither contribute to, nor comment on the contents of their “calendar”. “I shall appreciate your immediate help in this matter. To speak generally, Internet abuse is getting to be a universal plague, one that goes beyond personal embarrassment and umbrage. “I strongly recommend collective, professional action to protect the integrity of the medium, and save it from becoming a mere vomitorium for unprincipled scallywags with, or even with no particular axe to grind. Such a trend is fraught with outright danger, and should not be underestimated.