Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has disassociated himself from a song by members of the National Association of Seadogs, popularly known as Pyrates Confraternity, disparaging and mocking Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is the flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 presidential election contest.
Members of the Pyrates Confraternity dressed in red and white clothing were seen a viral video on social media singing songs that the camp of Tinubu found dis-tasting. They sang: “Hand dey shake, leg dey shake, baba wey no well he dey shout Emi Lokan,”
However, Soyinka said in a statement on Monday: “The display acidly targets a presidential candidate in the awaited 2023 elections. Since the whole world knows of my connection with that fraternity, it is essential that I state in clear, unambiguous terms that I am not involved in that public performance nor in any way associated with the sentiments expressed in the songs.
“Like any other civic group, the Pyrates Confraternity is entitled to its freedom of expression, individually or collectively. So also, is Wole Soyinka in his own person. I do not interfere in, nor do I attempt to dictate the partisan political choices of the Confraternity.
“ I remain unaware that the association ever engages in a collective statement of sponsorship or repudiation of any candidate. This is clearly a new and bizarre development, fraught with unpredictable consequences.”
Wole Soyinka...Sing no evil