Soyinka’s attacks on me unfair — Oyinlola

The tussle over the control of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding continued Thursday with former Osun State governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, insisting that he remains the leader of the centre.

Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, is also claiming headship of the Oshogbo-based CBCIU.

Mr. Oyinlola at a press conference in Okuku, Osun State, accused Mr. Soyinka of disrespecting him and members of the Board of Trustees of CBCIU.

“The respected Prof spoke of ethical issues concerning the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU),” said Mr. Oyinlola.

“His attacks did not just start. He did much more in 2008 when he stoutly opposed the establishment of the CBCIU and deployed all his contacts in and out of the country to wage vicious war which we won ultimately. In 2008, Prof Soyinka unsuccessfully sought to enlist the support of President Yar’Adua against us.

“This time around, he is appealing again to President Muhammadu Buhari with insinuations of ethical matters manifestly based on falsehood. I, however, will still assume that he has been misinformed on the true story, structure of and philosophy behind the establishment of the centre.”

At a press conference in Lagos, last week, Mr. Soyinka had stated that Mr. Oyinlola’s parading of himself as the head of the CBCIU was “unlawful and unethical”.

The Nobel laureate urged President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of Mr. Oyinlola whom he said was dragging Nigeria’s name in the mud.

“I must warn General Buhari – in the absence of a Foreign Minister – that, as a consequence of activities of this ‘CBCIU’ double, the nation is being dragged into a sleazy situation through the attempted co-option of its foreign missions into logistical support for their global enterprises,” said Mr. Soyinka, a professor of Comparative Literature.

Mr. Soyinka also accused the former governor of signing into law, in 2008, a CBCIU Act which stipulated that he (Mr. Oyinlola) would be the Board Chairman for life.

The Osun State House of Assembly had, however, amended the law in 2012 to state that the Chairman of the Board shall be “the Governor or anyone appointed by him for that purpose.”

Founding CBCIU

According to Mr. Oyinlola, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 2007 took a decision to establish a Category Two Institute (on culture) in Africa, which, it noted, would be the first of its kind in the continent.
“A number of countries in Africa showed interest. Nigeria was one of them,” Mr. Oyinlola said.

“To strengthen Nigeria’s bid for the institute, the presidency decided to acquire archival materials of renowned culture icon, Prof Ulli Beier and sent then minister of culture, Professor Babalola Borishade, to Sydney, Australia to seal a deal with him on the matter.

“However, Beier gave two conditions which he said must be met before he would grant the request of Nigeria.

“These two conditions are, one, the institute must be sited in Osogbo where he lived and around where majority of the materials were gathered over the decades he was here.

“The second condition was on who would preside over the board of trustees of the centre. Beier told the Federal Government delegation that he did not know the minister who visited, the same with the president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo but that
he knew Oba Moses Oyinlola, the father of the then governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

“He then demanded that an agreement must be reached that Oyinlola would be the chairman of the board of the centre in his personal capacity ostensibly to ensure the protection of his vision on the archival materials. The Federal Government agreed to the two terms and signed an agreement with Ulli and Georgina Beier on May 10, 2007. It was after this that the Federal Government contacted and informed me of the agreement.”

Soyinka’s ‘opposition’

Mr. Oyinlola said that Mr. Soyinka’s opposition to the establishment of the CBCIU began in mid-2008 when he launched “vicious unprovoked attacks” on himself and the proposed centre.

“I initially could not understand why he would seek to thwart the patriotic efforts to have the centre in Nigeria,” Mr. Oyinlola said.

“However, as events unfolded and pictures of other contenders (from other countries) for the centre became known, it became clear to us that our respected Prof could be assisting one of his friends (from Benin Republic) to win the bid and take the centre to his home country as a trophy showing how well he had worked for his country.

“Ironically, that man from Benin Republic, who, with the assistance of Soyinka, rallied certain powerful countries against us in UNESCO at that trying time, is also on Soyinka’s so called board today.

“So, you would want to ask: What is the interest of this foreign national in the affairs of Nigeria and in Osun state? And Professor Soyinka from Ogun state has so much love for my dear state that he would bring a foreigner to assist him to run a centre the establishment of which they both opposed and attacked until the whole world assisted us to defeat them.

“They can only be seeking to destroy what they failed to get in 2008. And I understand how hurting it could be when it dawned on them that all 58 members of UNESCO led by then Indian Ambassador, Ms Bhaswati Mukhrjee were for Nigeria at the Executive Board meeting of Monday, October 13, 2008.”

Mr. Oyinlola said that repeated efforts to make peace with Mr. Soyinka as well as give him correct information about the centre had been rebuffed.
“I paid a visit to his house in Lagos on the advice of my governor. He was not around and never acknowledged that visit,” said Mr. Oyinlola.

“I made several phone calls to him which were never answered. I tried reaching him unsuccessfully through his daughter, Mrs Moremi Onijala.

“The last was an intervention organised between us by Gov Aregbesola for Senator Sola Adeyeye to broker peace. The senator met with me and promised to meet Soyinka and get back to me. I was waiting for the feedback when I read Soyinka, an elderstatesman and a supposed culture icon attacking me once again.

“Why all these attacks? I have asked myself repeatedly. Could it be a case of transferred aggression? If he has any problem with his brother elderstatesman, General Olusegun Obasanjo, why transfer the aggression to me? I have never done anything in the past to warrant what I have been getting from this professor of Literature.”