‘We can disagree and still be civil’ — Moghalu apologises for choice of words in defence of Soyinka

Kingsley Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has apologised for his choice of words, “uncultured and unlettered”, against the people who attacked Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate.

The celebrated playwright was criticised for saying that recent remarks made by Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party, contained “fascistic language”.

Baba-Ahmed, in an interview with Channels TV, on March 22, said the country has no president-elect despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announcing Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election.

He said that Tinubu would be leading an unconstitutional government if sworn into office because the APC candidate “has not met requirements of the law”.

Reacting in a chat with Arise TV days after the remarks, Soyinka said the statements were a “kind of do-or-die attitude and provocation” that went contrary to democratic disposition.

Soyinka’s statement also generated reactions on social media, with the supporters of Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party – dubbed “Obidients” — calling out the Nobel laureate.

MOGHALU TO THE RESCUE 

In response to the criticisms of Soyinka by the Obidients, on Thursday, Moghalu said the respected playwright is a “phenomenon” that “unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media”.

 The former presidential candidate said Soyinka is a principled fighter for justice, noting that he would survive the undue reprimands from the Obidients movement.

However, Moghalu’s defence of Soyinka attracted a deluge of criticisms with many casting aspersion on him because of his choice of words.

But on Friday, Moghalu said he has to apologise for his choice of words which may have been “misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who are hurting from the outcome of the elections”.

“In my tweet yesterday on Prof. Wole Soyinka’s comment on Datti Baba-Ahmed’s own comments about the 2023 presidential election, I said WS is a principled fighter for justice and a phenomenon “that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deeply,” he wrote on Twitter. 

“I want to apologize for the phrase in quotation marks which, on second thought, can be misconstrued as a harsh judgment on citizens who are hurting from the outcome of the elections. 

“That was not my intention. While we all bear responsibility for the words we choose to use (and I have the utmost respect for Prof Soyinka and Dr. Datti-Ahmed), I caution again, however, that there will always be different voices with different beliefs in a democracy.

“These voices are not illegitimate simply because we disagree with them or they do not agree either with our political preferences or with whatever manner in which we choose to express our views. This applies across the board to the supporters of all the leading candidates.

“This is a difficult time for our country, but I hope we can still be civil and measured even as we may disagree.”