Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has said that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was really caged by some forces while in office.
He said Jonathan was unaware that the nation had been compromised and that ex-First Lady Dame Patience was on the loose and ought to be charged for incitement or chaos.
He however said he warned a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to beware of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He said Ribadu later confirmed that Chief Obasanjo was using him.
Soyinka made the submissions in an interview he granted a team from Zero Tolerance Magazine, produced by the Media and Publicity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).
He said he met Jonathan on more than two occasions and that it was obvious the former President had no knowledge of what was going on under his watch.
He said: “Correct. There were forces around Jonathan, which he himself did not understand and that is why I stressed that, you’ve got to choose your circle of advisers very carefully, when you are in charge. He was caged; things were going on that he did not know about.
“And again, I am revealing this to you, since this won’t be published till after the elections because I won’t want to be seen as campaigning for or against one side. It shows in deep trouble governance can be; governance can dig itself into a huge hole and not even know it’s in there. The statement that was issued was issued the night when I met him.
“Oh! It is more than two occasions, but two in recent times. I will tell you one interesting aspect of what we discussed. Jonathan did not know that the nation had been compromised so badly in this telephone thing with the King of Morocco. I was the one who told him when we met over an issue and I said to him, ‘by the way, how is the King of Morocco? Jonathan didn’t know what I was talking about’.
“When I mentioned the telephone issue, he thought I was talking about his campaign for the AfDB managing director for which he was lobbying other Head of States. He said ‘I haven’t spoken to him in a long time’, and I said ‘no, you spoke to him a few days ago.’
“He said ‘no, I intend to speak with him, I even asked my foreign ministry to link me up with him because I am campaigning for a candidate but I haven’t spoken to the King of Morocco’. Then I said to him, ‘You better go and read the newspapers of last week’. And I can tell you, he didn’t know.
“So, can you imagine that the President did not know that a scandal had developed that involved a withdrawal of an ambassador!”
On the former First Lady, Soyinka said she ought to be charged for incitement and chaos
“On a lighter note, I asked him, ‘what are you doing about madam’, because that one seems to be embarrassing the nation as usual because that seems to be her function as so called first lady. “You got to a section of the country and tell your supporters to stone those who campaign for change and you insult another part of the nation by calling them those who produce children that they cannot look after. That woman should be charged for incitement, chaos; it’s incredible that she is allowed to run loose.”
Pressed to disclose Jonathan’s reply to the question on his wife, Soyinka added: “I am not going to tell his response(laughs…). But I am free to tell you what I said, it will be an abuse of privilege if I tell you his response.”
Soyinka said he did not bomb Jonathan but he had spoken privately with the President on the state of the nation.
He said Jonathan allowed corruption to fester during his administration.
Soyinka gave details on how he warned ex-EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu against being used by ex-President Obasanjo.
He said: “I warned your former boss, Ribadu, I told him that, your task will be done when in the course of your investigation; you discover that the source of the problem is the very person who appointed you.
“He looked shocked a bit, and eventually he and I met in London, after, he was removed and El-Rufai was also in exile after they tried to kill him. We met and Ribadu refused to sit down. I asked him to sit but he said no, that until I accepted his apology? And he said, “I should have listened to you, I failed to listen to you. Something you said to me, and I failed to listen” Ribadu admitted that he realized very late that Obasanjo was using him.
“So we have to destroy that link between power and corruption. Audu Ogbe confirmed what I am telling you. Then it was ‘go after this one, go after the one, ahh! You did not arrest him? Arrest his mother!’ I am challenging Obasanjo to deny it.
“So when you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct, others are indirect.”
When reminded that former President Obasanjo said Ribadu investigated him and cleared him of all corruption charges, Soyinka said: I am not going to speak on this; but one thing l like, when I speak, I don’t dwell on rumours but at the same time I form opinion within the limits of the investigation which I make, that’s how far I go. I am a very curious person; I‘ll always ask: is this thing true, is it not true? And I use my own means to investigate and come to my conclusion.”
“Of course he(Ribadu) did, that was one of the longest discussions I had in a long time. We were there for almost four hours and we spoke for at least two and a half hours. I asked him a couple of questions and he told me certain things in confidence and there were things in which corroborated the things I have heard from different directions on investigations which I myself had made.
“But the important thing is that he came around to see that my indication to him is that you had to get to the source of corruption which grows when it is tolerated.”
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