Wole Soyinka endorses Moghalu for president

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Friday endorsed the presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) Kingsley Moghalu for president in Nigeria’s presidential election scheduled for February 16.

His endorsement of Moghalu came days after Soyinka had said that neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, would get his vote.

He has however thrown his weight behind the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to emerge president.

“There is always a choice to be made outside any presumptuous orders – in reality, associations guaranteed to perpetuate social disorders and the politics of inequality,” Soyinka said in an opinion piece titled ‘New Directions in a time of Decision’

“This is not the thinking of any one individual but of a large section of this populace. The final determination, however, is – the flag-bearer of the Young Progressive Party– Kingsley Moghalu.”

Prior to the endorsement of Moghalu, Soyinka had said the country was in an urgent need of a new direction, as there were so many opposition parties to take over governance.

Soyinka had assured Nigerians that meetings were being held simultaneously in Lagos and Abuja to evolve a political platform that would produce a consensus candidate that would define his choice for the presidency in 2019, saying there was no need for Nigerians to be enslaved with the old order of politicians.

“For the avoidance of doubt, let me make my position quite clear because I don’t want any ambiguity, I, Wole Soyinka, will not be voting for either of the two so-called contestants. I find both of them worthy of absolute rejection,” Soyinka said.

At his endorsement of Moghalu, Soyinka said the YPP candidate has the requisite knowledge and skill to govern Nigeria.

“Moghalu’s CV is however in the public domain – his publications, record, and vision. The above is just a side-note that contains its own mild, thought-provoking instruction, for those who care to examine the distractions of ethnic equivocations, and the rigid mindsets and stereotypes imposed on products of circumstance,” Soyinka said.

Soyinka, who is the convener of the Citizen Forum, a social advocacy group, urged all members to rally support to ensure Moghalu emerges president.