Fr Kelvin Ugwu Slams Wole Soyinka for ‘Silence’ on Nigerians’ Hardship Under Tinubu

Catholic missionary priest, Rev. Fr. Kelvin Ugwu, has criticised Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka for what he described as the writer’s silence on the hardship Nigerians are facing under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

In a Facebook post titled “Prof Soyinka then vs Prof Soyinka now” on Saturday, the priest compared Soyinka’s past activism under previous governments to his perceived quietness in recent times.

Ugwu recalled that during the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Soyinka was vocal and courageous, often serving as a “movement” and “social crusader” who spoke out against government excesses.

However, he lamented that Soyinka’s criticism waned during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure and has now, according to him, “completely faded” under Tinubu.

“Then came Tinubu, a man with no clear identity and whose academic records are in question. In just two years in office, he has plunged Nigeria into deeper debt and Nigerians into multidimensional poverty,” Ugwu wrote.

The priest added that Soyinka, once a fearless voice for the masses, had “suddenly become deaf and dumb” under Tinubu’s leadership, questioning what might have changed.

He dismissed suggestions that the Nobel laureate’s silence was rooted in ethnic loyalty, pointing out that Soyinka had previously criticised Yoruba leaders like Obasanjo.

Ugwu further insinuated that Tinubu’s influence over critics might be mysterious, quipping that “if this is what people mean by juju, then juju is powerful.”