‘Go jump off the River Niger bridge’, Soyinka tells sponsors of fake degree allegation against him

Nobel laureate and playwright, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has stated that allegations he is parading a fake academic certificate is being sponsored by people who have “neither honours to their careers nor honour to their births and origins”.

He also advised them to, “as a token of moral recompense, they should undertake to jump off the bridge of the symbolic River Niger, provided with life jackets, to ensure a life of remorse after this ritual purgation, but chained to one another in a commendable unity of purpose”.

The Nobel Laureate also challenged those disputing his academic records to provide evidence of their allegations and submit them to relevant investigative bodies in Nigeria including the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC), and the Directorate of Prosecutions within 30 days so that they can probe him.

Soyinka was reacting to an online publication by one Joseph Dahip who had written an article in 1998 where he referenced a 1996 report in which a scholar, Prof James Gibbs, was quoted as disputing some claims made by Soyinka.

Parts of the 1996 article had read:

“The claim by Professor Wole Soyinka that he obtained a first-class bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Leeds University has been challenged. Instead, what the Nobel laureate actually obtained from Leeds was a second-class degree.

“This startling revelation was made by Professor James Gibbs who has closely monitored the activities of former Leeds students in English literature.”

The article also quoted Gibbs as saying that he relied on a variety of sources, including contemporary Leeds publications, archival material, Soyinka’s work and interviews in arriving at the facts he had on Soyinka’s academic records.

Read also: Wole Soyinka centre condemns attacks on media houses

But while responding to the allegations in a statement on Friday, the erudite laureate said if the allegations turn out to be true, he would voluntarily strip himself of all the honours and achievements he had gained in his writing career.

In the statement titled “A Moral Call to Amoral Conscripts,” Soyinka said he would not only waive all protection under the statute of limitations, but would also allow the laws that govern fraudulent academic claims be invoked and applied to these allegations against him to the uttermost limit.

He challenged those peddling the allegations to submit any document that can prove their claims to the security agencies so he can be probed.

“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,” Soyinka wrote.

“Duly modified to suit a debased internet culture, it is making its grimy rounds ironically under the auspices of a democratic political party, supposedly dedicated to an ethos of freedom of opinion and expression.

“The contents of that script are attributed, as before, to the scholastic industry of a Bristol schoolteacher. The celebrated writer said he is awaiting his lawyer on whether or not to take legal action against those behind the allegations.

“I wish to state in advance that I voluntarily waive all protection under the statute of limitations, and insist that the laws that govern fraudulent academic claims be invoked and applied to these allegations to the uttermost limit.

“I also declare, in advance that, if found culpable, I shall strip myself of any titles and honours I may have garnered in my entire career, from the most obscure to the most coveted.

“In return, I expect the purveyors of this sordid material to submit all evidence, however minuscule, to the nation’s investigative agencies – Directorates of Prosecutions, EFCC, ICPC, plus affected institutions and others – within the next thirty days.

“Failing this elementary service in public interest within the stated time, and/or If such allegations are yet again proven baseless, thus indicating that their sponsors can boast of neither honours to their careers nor honour to their births and origins, then, as a token of moral recompense, they should undertake to jump off the bridge of the symbolic River Niger, provided with life jackets, to ensure a life of remorse after this ritual purgation, but chained to one another in a commendable unity of purpose.

“This is being copied to the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria, Pan-African Writers Association, Accra, Nigeran Association of Authors, the Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, the University of Leeds, the alleged Bristol Primary Source and his school, and the infested media.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now