Former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, have been at each other’s throats in recent time, over the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding, in Osogbo.
After Soyinka’s attack of Oyinlola last week, the latter has responded saying that the former’s acrimony towards him, was borne out of an alleged friction between the himself and Olusegun Obasanjo.
Oyinlola held a press conference in his home town, Okuku, on Thursday, to address the issue.
He said, “Why all these attacks on my person? I have asked myself repeatedly. Could it be a case of transferred aggression? If he has any problem with his brother, elder statesman, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, why transfering the aggression to me? I have never done anything in the past to warrant what I have been getting from Soyinka.
“Does Soyinka know that an elder in Yorubaland operates within certain ethical boundaries? Does he know that elders must never be seen playing the hen otherwise foul smell will be their companion?”
“Because I believe, to the best of my knowledge, that there is no personal animosity between me and Professor Soyinka, I have, in consultation with my governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made some moves to meet the professor to give him the correct information on the centre for him to be properly guided. All the moves have, sadly, been rebuffed.
“I paid a visit to his house in Lagos on the advice of the governor. He was not at home and never acknowledged the visit. I made several phone calls to him which were never answered.
I tried reaching him unsuccessfully through his daughter, Mrs. Moremi Onijala. The last was an intervention organised between us by Aregbesola for Senator Sola Adeyeye to broker peace.
“The senator met with me and promised to meet Soyinka and get back to me. I was waiting for the feedback when I read Soyinka, an elder statesman and a supposed culture icon attacking me once again.”
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