The professor's statement, released on Friday, is a critical reflection on the current political climate in Nigeria. Soyinka argues that the seeds of incipient fascism in the political arena have matured, and a climate of fear is being generated. He believes that the refusal to entertain corrective criticism and differing perspectives is a badge of honour and a certificate of commitment. Soyinka argues that truth is at stake, and when parties are in conflict, they should not intimidate the arbiter or attempt to dictate the outcome.
Soyinka finds the ensuing cacophony bewildering and suggests that it might be a ploy to smother other, more trenchant issues, such as religious war declarations. He has declared war against religious fundamentalism and finds the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court's grotesque fantasy of a wheelchair flying into space to a secret meeting with other conflict parties scary.
The tactics of ridicule, incrimination, and intimidation are familiar to Soyinka, whose objective is to undermine the structure of justice. He warns that violence and ethnic profiling, as well as intimidation and threats, are merely the obverse complements of material inducement. Those who fail to appreciate this are entirely free to exist in an illusory world.
Soyinka points out that in any adjudication, society finds it unacceptable for a party to the dispute to resort to influencing tactics by extra-judicial means such as bribery. The professor warns that coming to terms with an unpalatable projected eventuality, possible eventuality, counsels deep reflection, not demonisation of the bearer of sour news. For the seriously committed, it requires pulling back the horns a little to regroup, rethink and resurge.
Soyinka is well aware that his comments will invite more nauseous bilge from the besotted, but he invites them to be his guests. He concludes by stating that he chooses his methods of intervention without the permission of social media border patrols, and the whines of "silence" are relative to the reading scope and world knowledge of idle complainants, as well as their grasp of the chain of continuity.