Popular Nigerian Writer, Chimamanda Adichie has differed with Wole Soyinka in describing the supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi who are widely known as Obidients, as fascists.
Nobel Laureate Soyinka had in an interview with Channels Television last Saturday, accused Obidients of fascism over alleged refusal to entertain corrective criticism as their “badge of honour.”
Soyinka also accused the vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Baba Ahmed-Datti of being fascist following his recent interview with Channels Television that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu should not be sworn in.
Speaking on the matter which had generated controversies on the internet, Chimamanda disagreed with Soyinka, saying fascist is a very strong word.
According to her, the word ‘fascist’ can be used for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, but not Datti and the Obidients.
She said, “I have a lot of love and respect for Prof Soyinka but I disagree very strongly with him on this issue. Fascist is a very strong word and I don’t see any reason why Dr Datti’s interview was termed that way.
“Fascist can be used for INEC because many Nigerians feel cheated & gagged; with all the violence that occurred during the elections, that is Fascist.
‘‘When a government is insensitive to the plights of its subjects, then the government is fascist.”
Meanwhile, Adichie clarified why she supported Obi, recounting how she got to know him years ago when he as Anambra State governor paid homage to her parents.
“Why I very much admire Peter Obi, respect him, there are many others out there whom I admire and respect, and I will never vote for them for president because I don’t just think they will make the president.
“And so my support for Peter Obi is deeply rooted in real things; it is rooted in my faith in his ability. Actually, I got to know him years ago when he came to pay homage to my parents because he had heard my father was the first professor of statistics in Nigeria and that my mother had retired as the first female registrar of the University of Nigeria.
“And so this man just sort of arrived and said he just wanted to pay homage, and I was very impressed by that because he showed me how much he values education.
“And then, he became governor of Anambra State, and he took Anambra State to number one in education. I remember being very impressed by the story of how he had given his personal phone numbers to all of the senior prefects in secondary schools in Anambra, which I think also showed me he is interested in what ordinary people think.
“He does not just want to hear from the administrators; he wants to hear from them; he wants to hear from the students about what is really happening.
“And his focus on security, he really tackled kidnapping in Anambra, and I also remembered that he used to clash with the Anambra elites when he was tackling insecurity and kidnapping and that showed me he is quite decisive; he is just very focused on things. And that is really why I support him.”
