Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged those accusing him of fraudulent academic claims to present all evidence to the EFCC, ICPC, and the Directorate of Prosecutions within 30 days for a thorough investigation.
Soyinka made this statement in response to an online publication that contested his academic credentials, attributing it to the work of a Bristol schoolteacher within the scholastic industry.
In his statement titled “A Moral Call to Amoral Conscripts,” Soyinka emphasized his willingness to relinquish any protection under the statute of limitations. He insisted that the laws pertaining to fraudulent academic claims should be fully invoked and applied to the allegations against him.
He further declared in advance that if found guilty, he would willingly renounce any titles and honors he had accrued throughout his entire career, whether obscure or prestigious.
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Soyinka expressed his concerns, stating, “A document of unmatchable scurrility, last encountered during General Sani Abacha’s global campaign of calumny against opponents of his despotic, infernally venal, and homicidal reign, is back in circulation. Modified to suit the debased internet culture, it is being disseminated ironically under the banner of a democratic political party, supposedly dedicated to the ethos of freedom of opinion and expression. The contents of this document are once again attributed to the scholastic industry of a Bristol schoolteacher.”
He also added, “While awaiting a decision from my legal counsel on whether or not to engage in legal action against the current proponents of this aged document, I wish to declare in advance my voluntary relinquishment of protection under the statute of limitations. I insist that the laws governing fraudulent academic claims be fully enforced against these allegations to their utmost extent. Furthermore, I declare that if found culpable, I shall willingly strip myself of any titles and honors I may have acquired throughout my career, from the most obscure to the most prestigious.”
Soyinka continued, “In return, I expect the distributors of this sordid material to present all evidence, no matter how minimal, to the nation’s investigative agencies, including the Directorates of Prosecutions, EFCC, ICPC, as well as the affected institutions, within the next thirty days.”
He concluded with a strong message, “If such allegations are proven baseless yet again, indicating that their sponsors can lay no claim to either honorable careers or honorable origins, then, as a token of moral recompense, they should commit to jumping off the symbolic River Niger bridge. They should be provided with life jackets to ensure their remorseful existence after this symbolic purification, but be chained together as a sign of unity of purpose.”
Soyinka informed various organizations and institutions, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Pan-African Writers Association in Accra, Nigerian Association of Authors, the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, the University of Leeds, the alleged Bristol Primary Source, his school, and the media about his statement.
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