Ilorin Emirate will not tolerate your insult on their Emir, Wole Soyinka warned

*As Arowona advises him to desist from cheap blackmail against respected Northern Emir

*Says scholar can’t shave Ilorin Emirate’s heads in their absence

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

“In order to set records straight, Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babtunde Soyinka tends to be economical with facts forgetting that War is nobody’s want, even Musolini as he decided to settle with a factor that is capable of causing chaos in the society, if not quickly averted.”

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka’s comments on while Isese festival cannot hold in predominantly Islamic society of Ilorin Emirate have been described as insult to the Emir of Ilorin, Mai-Martaba Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari.

Spokesman to the Emir, Mallam AbdulAzeez Arowona, expressed in an Open Letter copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER on Friday his disappointment about the professor’s claims, guiding him insistently on how to see prevention and proactiveness as best measures to avert crisis.

Arowona, who addressed the scholar in his full names “Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babtunde Soyinka”, said the people of Ilorin Emirate are tolerant and hospitable but they will not be friendly with anyone insulting the Emir, advising that “Our amiable Professor should please take note and desist from such a cheap blackmail” against the Emir of Ilorin, who is a very respected monarch in the hierarchy of Northern Nigerian Traditional Rulers Council and, by extension, Nigeria as a whole.

“The claims by the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on the position of the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Mai-Martaba Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari CFR, on the prevention of Isese festival proposed to be hosted in the ancient city of Ilorin by one Yeye Ajesikemi Omolara, an Osun Priestess, is not only nauseating but also uncharitable to the people of Ilorin Emirate who have by all standards remain peaceful with people of different faiths and tribes.

“This response is to provide some clarifications to our highly respected scholar who has for many decades, continued to dominate the media as a celebrated academic Icon and promoter of African cultures globally.

“In order to set records straight, Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babtunde Soyinka tends to be economical with facts forgetting that War is nobody’s want, even Musolini as he decided to settle with a factor that is capable of causing chaos in the society, if not quickly averted.

“The secret behind the peaceful co-existence in the ancient city of Ilorin Emirate and Kwara State at large is the wisdom and ability of successive governments, with maximum supports from traditional institution, to prevent crisis and not waiting until it erupt because the cost of managing crises cannot be equated to the wisdom or courage required to prevent it. Such proactiveness is necessary in order to sustain peaceful co-existence in the society.

“It is therefore surprising to hear that the position of Professor Soyinka is identical to someone who does not consider what might transpire if the programme was hosted and visited with rowdyism which may also lead to reprisal attacks by sympathizers or promoters of such belief (Isese festival) in other parts of the country.

“Assisting the people of Ilorin Emirate to shave their heads in their absence by condemning a crisis preventive formula by constituted authority in the land is a great blunder committed by Professor Soyinka, a well-travelled scholar who has virtually become an ancestor in the land and expected to be an advocate of global peace and not fanning the ember of violence under any guise,” Arowona, who is also the Shettima of Okuta, Baruten Emirate, Kwara State, said.

To read details of the letter, visit The DEFENDER website www.thedefenderngr.com or click on link: An Open Letter to Professor Wole Soyinka, by Emir of Ilorin’s Spokesman https://thedefenderngr.com/an-open-letter-to-professor-wole-soyinka-by-emir-of-ilorins-spokesman/