Centenary: Outrage as Abacha’s children attack Soyinka

Two children of the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha, on Wednesday singled out Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, for what can be described as a venomous attack.

While Gumsu, one of the late dictator’s daughters,  took to her Twitter page to pass disparaging remarks on Soyinka, his brother Sadiq chose blogs and online forums to snarl abuses at him.

According to them, their grouse against Soyinka borders on a statement he made that he rejected the centenary award by the Federal Government because of the inclusion of their late father’s name on the list of awardees.

Soyinka had said it was an insult for him to be listed alongside Abacha for the award saying, “I reject my share of this national insult. We are speaking of a man who placed this nation under siege during an unrelenting reign of terror that is barely different from the current rampage of Boko Haram.

“It is this very psychopath that was recently canonised by the government of Goodluck Jonathan in commemoration of 100 years of Nigerian trauma.”

But Gumsu,  who threw the first salvo,  said in her own wisdom, Soyinka’s statement was “stupid, foolish and insignificant.”

“Someone should tell Soyinka that I liked his books when I was younger but that is where it ends. Today, I reject his stupid, foolish and insignificant statement. I am not perfect, nor was my late dad. We are human beings. God’s creation!  We are not perfect just like our fingers aren’t equal. Take it or leave it,” she tweeted.

In what appeared as a coordinated attack, Sadiq took time to write a 1,762-word open letter in which he cast aspersions on Soyinka.

While claiming to be “lecturing” Soyinka, Sadiq said he believes that the professor’s “brilliance is not perfection” adding that the Nobel Laureate should desist from always “pouncing” on his late father.

While defending his dictator father, he described Soyinka as a “common writer” who has grown old and fast “losing his grasp of reality.”

“Here I find myself defending my father 15 years after his death because some of you have no one else to pounce on, or rather, you have chosen a dead person to keep pouncing on over and over again when you have more than an array of contestants,” Sadiq added.

But no sooner had their bombshells surfaced online than a barrage of criticisms began to trail their actions.

Many were quick to remind the children of the autocratic ruler that the freedom of expression they were exercising online by attacking Soyinka was actually repressed during their father’s dictatorial rule.

A political blogger, Babatunde Rosanwo, said it was appalling that Abacha’s children were running commentaries on highly respected individuals in the country.

He reminded the two siblings that their father brought much “sorrow” to the nation while his reign lasted.

“When Abacha’s children begin to run commentary on Wole Soyinka, you wonder if they were too young to know their father. There is no need to remind the Abachas of the sorrow their father brought upon Nigeria.

“I blame President Jonathan for  his short memory. Today it is Wole Soyinka, tomorrow it may be Gani Fawehinmi. The Abachas are enjoying the freedom of expression their father repressed,” Rosanwo added.

A few hours after Sadiq’s article was circulated online, a blogger, Ayo Sogunro, who described himself as a young Nigerian who sees Soyinka as his “socio-political” father, took to his blog to defend the literary icon.

In his 1,454-word blog post on ayosogunro.com, he said the Abacha reign “have been the worst years of my material life as a Nigerian citizen”,  noting that the attacks on Soyinka amounted to a “misguided filial bravery.”

“You (Sadiq Abacha) can never eradicate the infamy of your father’s legacy by trying to point out the failings of another Nigerian. No length of finger pointing will wash away the odious feeling the name Abacha strikes up in the mind of the average Nigerian.

“Wole Soyinka did not antagonise your father just because he was a military man—Wole Soyinka was against your father’s inhumanity. Your father was intolerant of criticism beyond belief,” Sogunro wrote in his blog post.

Lending a voice to the outrage, a public relations practitioner, Isioma Osaje, wrote on Twitter that no matter the amount  of mudslinging from the late dictator’s family, they cannot distort history.

She said, “You (Sadiq and Gumsu) should know that it is unfortunate that he is your father. But Abacha was everything he is accused of and more. A thief is a thief, father or not. His sins are not your sins unless you were cohorts and while it is admirable that you defend your father, it does not change history.”

Also, one Tobi Amoo, who claimed to have once attended the same school with Sadiq, cautioned the duo against further spewing rubbish in an attempt to get back at Soyinka.

“Sadiq Abacha was actually a year my senior in Maitama during his father’s terrible reign,” he said. “If my father were a thief and murderer, I’d keep quiet when people talked about it, not spew crap as if na only me sabi speak oyinbo.

“If your father is a thief and you speak to support him, you are a thief also. It’s the same freedom that Wole Soyinka and others like the late Gani Fawehinmi fought for that allows these badly-brought up children to open their gob and spout rubbish.”