Soyinka reveals what Jonathan told him about Chibok girls

Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan dismissed him when he enquired about the kidnap of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno state.

Soyinka said this while speaking on Thursday at a dialogue organised by Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism in Lagos.

The foremost author and playwright said Jonathan told him that he should take the abduction of the schoolgirls as his own problem and deal with it.

“I reached out to former President Jonathan, and protested, chiding him severely on his reaction over the abduction of the Chibok girls. I said to him; ‘you want to be accepted as a political leader, and you do not even accept as your duty to be there (Chibok), at the scene of the disaster?’

“And I asked him, did you actually utter those words attributed to you? His response remains a riddle to me till today,” he said.

“His exact words to me, not easily forgotten I assure you, were ‘Kampala tie niyen,’ meaning that is your own Kampala,” he added.

Soyinka also said Jonathan waited for nearly three weeks before accepting the fact that over 200 schoolgirls had been abducted in Chibok.

“He said the opposition was only using this to discredit his government, and precious days to have rescued the girls were lost,” he added.