Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka says that while he has
occasionally been compelled to publicly chastise Mrs. Patience Jonathan over
unacceptable conduct, he has never referred to her as "illiterate."
He has also never linked President Goodluck Jonathan's
governance with his wife's educational attributes or lack thereof, he said in a
clarification sent to SaharaReporters and other online media on Wednesday
concerning what he called the “disgusting career” of a fabrication on the
subject.
He also said he intended to take whatever legal steps are
available once the source of the objectionable material has been traced.
“It commenced over a year ago, I seem to recollect, as a telephone
text, 'tweet' or whatever it is called, died away after strong rebuttals, and
is now being provided renewed life by some faceless cowards with their own
private agenda,” Professor Soyinka said in a statement. “Let me state
quite clearly that literacy is no indicator of intelligence, even though we all
believe (I hope) in universal literacy. From childhood I have interacted with
so-called "illiterate" men and women, sipped from their innate
intelligence, and learnt much from them outside formal schooling.”
“Your readers may
wish to know that when I first encountered the statement, I was sufficiently
appalled to send a personal message to Patience Jonathan dissociating myself
from such a base sentiment. The associated commentary on the president's
decisions - I have no idea which decision, if any - is equally outrageous and
disgusting. To attribute to me the slightest interest in the choice of a spouse
by man or woman is a complete travesty of my near obsessive belief in the
sanctity of private relationships.”
According to Professor Soyinka, a similar shameless
telephone posting was inaugurated some weeks ago, with his name attached to it,
urging the public to rise and do something or the other.
“Let me take this opportunity to announce yet again
that I do not tweet, blog or whatever goes on in this increasingly promiscuous
medium,” he stressed. “I do not run a Facebook, even though I am
aware that one or two serious-minded individuals/groups have instituted
some such forum on their own, for the purpose of disseminating factual
information on my activities. I neither contribute to, nor comment on the
contents of their "calendar".
Speaking generally, he expressed concern that Internet abuse
is getting to be a universal plague, one that goes beyond personal
embarrassment and umbrage, and called for collective, professional action to
protect the integrity of the medium, and save it from becoming “a mere
vomitorium” for unprincipled scallywags who may or may not have a particular axe
to grind.
“Such a trend is fraught with outright danger, and should
not be underestimated,” he warned.
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