It gave me great—most malicious pleasure… to see the incumbent president being given a dose of his own medicine.” — Wole Soyinka
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka praised former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi for refusing to concede to President Bola Tinubu during the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary, calling it a display of democratic courage. Speaking at Amaechi’s 60th birthday celebration in Abuja on Saturday, Soyinka recounted watching the contest live from Abu Dhabi.
“I wanted to see the drama of all the primaries… and I’m glad I did,” Soyinka said. “It gave me great—most malicious pleasure… to see the incumbent president being given a dose of his own medicine.” He compared Amaechi’s defiance to Tinubu’s resistance against former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged third-term bid, calling Amaechi “the last man standing.”
“While everybody was falling over one another conceding, there was one individual who got on the podium and said no, I’m not conceding,” Soyinka remarked. “That man was Rotimi Amaechi. And I said this is what democracy is all about.”