APC should have been sensitive on choice of Muslim-Muslim ticket, says Soyinka 

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, says the All Progressives Congress (APC) should have been sensitive enough and avoids needless controversy in its choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election.

Controversy has continued to trail the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, as the vice presidential candidate to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is also a Muslim.

While Tinubu had continued to state that he picked Shettima based on competence and not his religion, many Christians in the country have accused Tinubu and the APC of marginalisation.

Speaking on a Channels TV programme Newslight on Monday, Soyinka said it did not matter to him as a person if Nigeria’s next president, vice-president, and Speaker of the House of Representatives are all from the same village and religion.

He, however, said though the same faith ticket won’t be a problem in a “normal society”, Nigeria was yet to attain such a “norm”.

He therefore asked the campaigners for a same-faith ticket to be “very sensitive to the very peculiar circumstances of Nigeria” and explore alternatives that have been working for the country. 

“I don’t give a damn if the president, the vice-president, the speaker, etc all come from the same village, they have the same religion, they belong to the same tribe,” Soyinka said when asked about his thoughts on the controversy.

“If, however, it is transparently, absolutely, unarguable that is a kind of genius breed that has been donated to the nation and to the world, as long as the capability of the individuals who are into governance is proven, and it is quite clear that there is no alternative, that is my position.

“Now, we are talking about a society which is normal, which institutions are normal…Is Nigeria normal?”

He added that there are unspoken arrangements that reflect the diversity and peculiarity of Nigeria and the ruling party should have been sensitive enough to recognise such peculiarity and avoid needless controversy.

He said: “We’ve had unspoken arrangements in recognition of the peculiarity of this particular society. And so, it shouldn’t surprise you or me that a number of people find that kind of choice very questionable and unwise, especially at this time.

“I can understand that perfectly and at the same time, I recognise the right of the proposed incumbent to choose who he wants to run with if he gets ultimately into power. That right is there. However, that right is not absolute because we are talking about a relative society which Nigeria is right now.

“And so, we are in a very difficult situation and the question I ask now is: why create a controversy? Are there options that should have prevented such a controversy? Why not be very sensitive to the very peculiar circumstances of Nigeria?”

Soyinka said Nigeria is facing a crisis of faith, ethnic distrust and class distrust and politicians should seize the opportunity not to exacerbate the situation but to learn from countries like Lebanon that learnt from their civil war and unanimously agreed on zones to produce government officials.