“You’re Suddenly Deaf and Dumb” – Fr. Kelvin Ugwu Criticizes Soyinka’s Silence on Tinubu

The well-known writer Wole Soyinka has been criticized by Rev. Fr. Kelvin Ugwu, a Catholic missionary priest in the Gambia, for his perceived silence during President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

In “Prof Soyinka then vs. Prof Soyinka now,” a Facebook post, he accused the Nobel laureate of being less vocal under President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership and of remaining utterly mute throughout Tinubu’s administration.

According to Ugwu, Soyinka was outspoken under the administrations of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, calling himself a “social crusader” and “movement” who openly denounced injustices by the government.

“Then came Tinubu, a man whose academic records are in doubt and whose identity is unclear,” he went on. In his two years in government, he has led Nigeria to accumulate more debt and its people to live in various forms of hardship.

He asked what would have led Soyinka, who was once a well-known spokesperson for the people, to “suddenly become deaf and dumb” while Tinubu was in power.

Furthermore, Ugwu disagreed that Soyinka’s silence was driven by ethnic allegiance, stating that the Nobel laureate has attacked other Yoruba leaders, like as Obasanjo.

He also joked that “if this is what people mean by juju, then juju is powerful,” suggesting that Tinubu’s capacity to influence detractors would be inexplicable.