Highly
revered Nigerian professor, Wole Soyinka, has spoken out about the
pressure to tear up his green card over Donald Trump's win.
Wole Soyinka
Lots of criticism has trailed Nobel laureate, Professor Wole
Soyinka after he vowed to destroy his United States residency permit
should Republican Party candidate, Donald Trump emerge President.
Now, the revered professor has reacted to the criticisms.
According to The Nation, the Nobel laureate described those
taunting him over his statement as “literalists” who obsess over a time
scheme of their own assessment. He said while it is true that he made
the statement while addressing a group of students at Oxford University
and fielding questions, he is not about to be stampeded into doing what
his critics want.
“Thus, failure to have torn my Green Card “the moment” that I
learnt that Mr. Donald Trump had won the presidential elections of the
USA. It did not matter what I was doing at the time – teaching, eating,
swimming, praying, under the shower or whatever. Or a family member
saying, “Wait for me!” – speculatively please, no such disturbance ever
took place. If it did however, I am supposed to contact the Nigerian
media – to whom I have never spoken, and who never contacted me – except
one – to beg permission to pursue a realistic definition of “the
moment”. Media fascism is however a subject for another day. For now,
that moment having passed, I must be culpable of breaking a solemn
promise. By the way, since we are on the terrain of literalism, has
anyone attempted to “tear” or rip apart a Green Card? Even a Credit
Card? For the average hands, that would take some doing! I have actually
considered garden shears for a dramatic resolution, this being closer
to my real profession,” Soyinka said.
The literature icon said he has been asked several times if he
would still carry out his promise to tear his card as he said. According
to Soyinka, his answer to this question remains a categorical ‘Yes’.
“I have been asked several times – interestingly only by the
foreign media, with the exception of THE INTERVIEW – whether indeed I
did make such a statement at any time, and whether I still intended to
carry it out, and the answer remains a categorical ’Yes’.
Speaking further, Soyinka said, “nonetheless, did I mean what I
said – that is, ’exiting’ the USA? Absolutely, and that is the very
theme of this address. It will not attempt to deal with the notion of an
exit time-table as conceived by others, as if even the incumbent US
president and his replacement are not even permitted over two months to
pack their bags and prepare to move in and out of the White House, but
must exchange positions the very moment that a winner was proclaimed.
“Anyone would think that the Brexit Vote made it imperative for
the Brits to plunge into the English Channel instantly, instead of
negotiating two years for an orderly withdrawal. Plebeians like me of
course need far less time, nevertheless they do not uproot overnight.
Any other proposition speaks of a permanent agenda, of frustration and
hidden histories – such as opportunities to rehabilitate themselves in
the public eye.
“There is also recession in the land, and I can understand the
psychology of impotence and thus, transferred aggression. Let it be
understood – before I move even one word further – that I interrupted my
present commitment in the United States solely for an urgent meeting
with the Ooni of Ife on an ongoing project. I am obliged to return to
the US in a matter of two or three days to complete my interrupted
mission. Fortunately, that mission is guaranteed to end long before the
United States becomes Trumpland Real Estate.”
Soyinka, who wondered why his statement generated such negative
criticism, said he is not disturbed by the development as, according to
him, his temperament requires a certain minimum level of environmental
health to function properly.
Offering an insight into why he made the statement that has seen
him severely criticised by social media commentators across the globe.
He added, “I followed the fluctuating poll statistics. I began
to warn my colleagues, friends, my family: listen, this thing is
happening right before our very eyes. This is how it begins, how
humanity ends up with Cambodia, with Rwanda, with Da’esh. We are
watching a Hitlerite phenomenon. We are witnessing history in reverse,
unravelling before a complacent world. I said to them, if this man wins,
I am relocating."
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