Nigerian noble Laurette, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has been asked to go into a debate with a popular writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and shelved his proposed debate with Labour Party (LP) presidential running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
A spokesperson to Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded presidential election, Daniel Bwala, knocked Soyinka after the renowned playwright and novelist challenged Yusuf Datti to a TV debate over his stand on the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
Soyinka who openly disagreed with the position of the Labour Party presidential running mate questioned the attitude of the party supporters popularly referred to as the ‘obidients’.
He then went ahead to challenge the politician in a one-on-one debate on the matter. CityNews understands that Obi-Datti Media Office has since rejected the debate calls by the renowned Professor saying it would be wrong for its presidential running mate to sit and point out the folly of Soyinka’s position to him.
Joining the host of other Nigerians in reaction, Atiku’s aide, Bwala said Soyinka was not a politician, hence Yusuf Datti should reject his challenge.
He challenged Soyinka to instead go into a debate with Chimamanda Adichie and not Datti. According to him, Soyinka’s debate with Adichie will be a replica of the story of Biblical David and Goliath.
Tweeting, Bwala wrote: “Am told Prof. Soyinka asked to debate Datti. No, he should ask to debate Chimamanda Adichie.
“Datti is a politician, Soyinka is not, so it will be an unfair debate.
“But both Soyinka and Chimamanda trade on literature and grammar. #Soyinkadebatechimamanda.
“When he tries Chimamanda, he will understand the phrase ‘nobody has the monopoly of knowledge’. It will certainly be the case of David v Goliath.”