"Late Generall Sani Abacha was obsessed with me" - Wole Soyinka

 

Popular Noble Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has recounted how late dictator,

General Sani Abacha was "Obsessed" with him.

According to him, it was a bit of miracle that he survived that period.

The playwright disclosed this in an Interview with theNEWS to mark his 90th birthday.

He said a lot of people paid heavy prices because they were associated with him.

He said, " I consider it a bit of miracle that I was able to survive that period. Because Abacha was m@d. He was obsessed. He was really obsessed with me. Many people paid heavy price because they were associated with Soyinka, and there were available ".

Wole Soyinka  shared a story of a driver who worked for Abacha and later approached his new boss, asking to see Soyinka the person who had given Abacha such nightmare.

The driver had heard Abacha and his Victor discussing Soyinka, and wanted to know the person behind the name that triggered such a strong reaction.

He said, " A story which I told the other day at the metropolitan club in Lagos was one of my favourite stories. A driver who was now working for yet another military officer had worked for Abacha. And he heard the host and the visitor talking about Wole Soyinka. It was the host who told me the story.

"After the visitor left, the driver went to his new boss and said, 'excuse me sir, this Wole Soyinka that you're talking about, is it the same one my master used to talk about? please just do me a favour. I want to meet him'. The Boss sasaid, why do you want to see him? 'I want to see the person who gave my boss Sani Abacha nightmares'. He said, I want to know that person. Because anytime he heard that name, 'Wole Soyinka" he went into frenzy. Sani Abacha was desperate'.

Wole Soyinka also revealed that Abacha's regime set up fake consulates and trading companies to trap and monitor him and others in Atlanta. He revealed that he had to be accompanied by policemen when flying out and also returning due to security concerns.

"One was situated in Bayswater, where I used to stay, not far from where Muhammad Buhari attempted to kidnap Dikko Umaru in the UK. It was purely to trap, to get hold of us and for those who they were tracking. I wasn't the only one.

" In Atlanta, they set up fake consulate. We fought to make sure that the consulate in Atlanta, were I was teaching at Emory University at the time was not set up. The envelope that was passed to some of the city counselors were heavy. They admitted it. By the way you know I'm an honourary citizen of the state of Georgia. And so, our American friends told this sories on the day of my investiture about what happened ". He said.