Jonathan was in a cage— Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, said that former President Goodluck Jonathan was becoming authoritarian while in office. Soyinka also said that the former President also committed what he described alarming errors of governance. The playwright said he withdrew his support for Jonathan because he was drifting towards “fascism.” Soyinka in an interview with the current edition of Zero Tolerance magazine, a publication of the EFCC, stated that Jonathan surrounded himself with ”unsavoury characters.”

He stated that it was important for any President or public officer to pick his advisers carefully because of the kind of characters who shielded the former President from certain happenings around hm. Soyinka explained that he marched alongside others in order to ensure that Jonathan was sworn-in as the acting President in 2010, noting that the action was meant to protect the constitution and not about Jonathan. He said, “We marched in order to protect the constitution, not the person of Jonathan. We retained a cordial relationship during his tenure. However despite some attacks I felt compelled to launch on him – and his wife. Jonathan committed some truly alarming errors of governance. He was propelling himself towards outright fascism.

“Asked by the interviewers if Jonathan was caged, he answered, “Correct. There are forces around Jonathan, you put your fingers around it, which he himself does 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’s been caged; things are going on in his ministry that he did not know about.”