They insist "there is no Freedom of Expression” inside Nigeria: What then is this? Also watch Wole Soyinka lie

Ipemndoh dan Iyan

They say there is “no Freedom of Speech in Nigeria,” yet these Persons on FlipTV openly propagandize against the Nigerian Republic. They are publicly inciting Disorder, if not Insurrection, within the Nigerian Territorial-State. They are unabashedly talking the Language of Hate and violent Segregation© Ipemndoh dan Iyan 

What is this if not "Freedom of Expression?" 

They do not just say there is “no Freedom of Speech in Nigeria” they also insist "there is no Freedom of Expression," and propagandize that the Nigerian Security Services routinely harass them, arrest them or do whatever to them whenever they try to exercise these Freedoms or when they do indeed employ them. They bear Focus only on 'Freedom of Speech' as though it means the same Thing as 'Freedom of Expression'. Yet, whether it is 'Freedom of Speech' or 'Freedom of Expression', we find in this FlipTVNG YouTube Upload https://youtu.be/TZpKJj_HA3w Nigerians speaking their Minds at will, some actually, like the first Speaker, quite seditious against the Federal Government of Nigeria.1 For me, to me, Nigerians on these Broadcasts are always speaking out of Turn. The Broadcasts are made regularly on the Street at the same Location known to Security Forces. The Individuals not constrained in their Views are unchanged as we continue to encounter them Broadcast after Broadcast. So, if there is “no Freedom of Speech”, why have they not been arrested and/or warned by the Security Forces to desist from their obvious violence-tinged separatist Propaganda? I do not mind the Advocacy of Separatism. What I detest is the Incitement to Violence in Language and in Tone. 

Our "no Freedom of Expression in Nigeria" Lamenters say; "no, no, no, don't look at things like FlipTV Broadcast, pay Attention instead to what happened with the #EndSARS Protests." They remind us of this indelible History of Nigeria when the "democratically elected" Government of rtd Major General Muhammadu Buhari so wantonly and conspicuously murdered  young defenceless and unarmed Protesters demonstrating against Police Brutality and other Excesses of the Security Network of Buhari's Government. We are enraged by the Spectacle of those Murders so we agree with the Claim that there is "no Freedom of Expression in Nigeria." However, our Consensus is misplaced. The #EndSARS Scenario does not involve 'Freedom of Expression' per se, but collective Action by public Expression against specific Conducts of Nigeria's Security Apparatuses. This is a fine Distinction. 

Our Lamenters point to the Western World as the Locus of “free Expressions", and I find this interesting, infuriating actually. Most of these Nigerian Experts on Western Acceptance of ‘Freedom of Speech’ in particular, and ‘Freedom of Expression' in general, have never traveled out of Nigeria not to talk of having ever stepped in the West. Some would have just visited for short Holidays, not in the least concerned with the political Realities of where they were visiting, and most probably just shopping and simply intoxicated by being finally in the West, in Eyinvo (Oyinbo – ‘white’ Folk) Country. If certain of them had ever lived in the West, they would most probably not have engaged with the political Agitations of the Countries they were in. I know of many Africans, especially Nigerians in the last Category. They are in their Nigerian Enclaves – discriminating along their Nationalities of Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba – in England. Except that they are physically in England,2 they might as well be in Nigeria. That is how self-dislocated Nigerians are from mainstream English Society.  Thus, these Nigerians, not ever involved in the socio-political Activities of the Western Countries they inhabited, would return to Nigeria unable to recognize the philosophical similarity between the Nigerian Police Presence at Protest Demonstrations, and French Police Presence or UK Police Presence or US Police Presence at similar Events or the Facts that these Police Forces have also been known to kill Demonstrators with Intent. 

Nigerian false-Experts on "Freedom of Expression" 

Our Nigerian pseudo-Experts on Western Governments' lie consistently, and deliberately to the ordinary Nigerian Citizen about the Tolerance of “Freedom of Expression” in the West. I live in the West. My Citizenship is UK. My Nationality3 is Fulani. My Race is African. I have contributed in many Ways to UK socio-political Advocacies and Agitations, in the Voluntary Sector, and in my private Capacity as a Writer. I have been on Marches. I have attended uncountable Town Hall Meetings about ‘Social-Justice’. I once managed a Community Project and was Chair of a Consortium of Community Interests for around 5-6 Years. I departed without being pushed. I spent about 15 Years in voluntary Community Development. I left when I got tired of self-Interests always subduing Community Interests. I was Part of 'Africa Reparation Committee UK' (or whatever we were called). We did not last long but we always met at the House of Commons with the late Labour Party Member of the House of Commons, Bernie Grant, as our Steer. I know my English Society well regarding socio-racial “Injustice”, particularly. I have written many Observations of – not ‘on’ – Western socio-political Environments, especially about the UK and the US. I studied the Politics of France, UK, and US, as a University Student. I even stood for Election to the UK House of Commons. I did not win the Seat I contested, but I also did not lose my Deposit. So, not only do I possess lived Experience of Residency in the West, I also have socio-political participatory Experience as a Citizen of a Western Country in addition to boasting educationally-acquired Experience of Western Societies. 

How do your Nigerian Counterfeit-Experts on Western ‘Freedom of Expression' compare to me? Name one of them. From your Professors who had stints at Western Universities to any other you care to identify. Point me in the Direction of One who has ever written a Critique of any Western  socio-political Process from lived Experience and/or from socio-political participatory Experience whether or not as Citizen, and/or from educationally-acquired Experience. So, how can they now all of sudden become Experts on Matters they never critically observed, or even participated in? What do these Nigerian false-Experts think the US Homeland Security Act of 2002 is all about? Freedom of Expression can be, and is, restricted by a Territorial-State for raison d'état (Reason of State). This is absolute to that Country. It is particularized. It is, ergo, extremely unintelligent to insist that because Western Countries do not curtail certain Expressions, Nigeria should not. Pro-Twitter Commentators of Nigerian Citizenship are not doing their Country any Favour by making such unschooled Comparisons. The Logic of 'Freedom of Expression' is universal, but the Substance of permissible 'Free Expressions' is localized to Jurisdictions, i.e., each Territorial-State to its own. It is not enough for you all to scream yourselves hoarse with “I am a Nigerian” or “I am proud to be a Nigerian” when you are most unwilling to protect your Country’s Sovereignty that a mere Business Interest chose to disregard at Will. You all jump to the Defense of that Business, Twitter. It ought really not to be about whatever it is you are gaining from Twitter. It is about Twitter not having any Respect for your Sovereignty that it felt confident to interfere with the tweeted Statement the President of your Country made about the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970. In the Tweet, President Buhari addressed the present and clear Threat of Recurrence of that War through Incitation employing the Twitter Platform among others, and how he will direct his Government to deal with those who are hellbent on pushing the Country into another internal ‘hot War'.4 

Is the Civil War not Part of Nigerian History? Should your President not warn those who are intent on sending the Country again into Armageddon that they would be treated in kind? How many of you, Anchors at ARISEtv, have any recoverable Experience of that War or were even born then? It is one thing to condemn your Government for Corruption, Incompetence, Inefficiency, Murder and even to enlist outside Interests – private or public – to assist you in these Quests. You have every Right to do these Things as Citizens deserving better. It is another Thing for a private foreign Enterprise to muzzle your President when he had simply done his Job in cautioning those calculating to set his Country on the Course of War. That is Interference with your Country’s Sovereignty. Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and all his Support Apparatuses do not care about a foreign private Sympathizer dissing Nigeria. They do not consider themselves Nigerians, but you who pride yourselves as Nigerians should care. It is Nigerians who will die from the War not Twitter Officials. Today, I am not Nigerian and it is me who is steadfastly defending the Nigerian Sovereignty against arrogant and unlearned – about Nigeria – private Sector Twitter. I will defend the UK, and the US similarly. I will side with any Country whose Sovereignty any Business Interest believes it can disrespect. 

"Freedom of Expression" is not carte blanche: my 'American' Experience 

In 2003, when I was in Los Angeles there was a lot of Anger within the academic Circle about the Restriction the US Homeland Security Act of 2002 placed on ‘Freedom of Expression’. I was at many Discussions held at the University of Southern California (USC) over the Issue. I think I also attended one or two at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) or was it the other Way round? In 2004, I was almost a Casualty of the Act when I was questioned for circa 45 Minutes at Detroit Airport, Michigan, en route Florida by around 10 Customs Officers, and 1 Immigration Officer. They deliberately picked me out of the Customs Queue while I was still in Line to pass through. I had already cleared Immigration. These Officers came at me and you could hear one distinctly saying “there he is.“ It was the “there he is“ that caught my Attention as it did everyone else only to see an Officer pointing at me as they came towards me. They took me out of the Line into a private Space and questioned me repeatedly about my Work Activities even though after telling them the first time they could easily check with a Telephone Call to the UK. I worked for Law Enforcement at the Time. They exposed their Hand by not making that Phone Call, and I sensed what it was all about. They had come across my unfavorable writing about George W Bush, US President at the Time. They were pressuring me to tell them that I did another Job apart from the one I already informed them about. I knew that if I advised them that I write I would be sinking myself. 

I suspected what they were looking for; my volunteering to them that I write. They already knew that but to act upon it would be admitting that they snooped on me, and that would leave them open to a Breach of Civil Rights Claim, so they persisted in asking the Question of what else I did in addition to law Enforcement Work. They knew from that Employment that I could not be engaged in criminal Activities because of the high Security Clearance they would be aware I had. Their best Bet was to continue with the Attempt to coax me into volunteering the Information they already had. They believed themselves the Cat, and I the Mouse, and that I could easily be entrapped. The Immigration Officer among them even questioned why I had with me only 2 Pages of a UK Newspaper rather than the whole Paper. She went Title by Title over the 2 Pages studying the Bylines. I was watching her Eye Movements. She even wanted to know about the Lottery on a Page that I had to ask her if they do not play Lotteries in the United States. I was getting really piqued at the Nonsense they were playing out, and that was my only way at the Time of getting back at them without being overtly rude. She even questioned me about my Medication and why I had the Quantity on me rather than more. When I advised her that they were calculated for my Period of Stay, she asked me if I did not consider that anything could happen that would extend my Stay. I inquired with “such as” and she stuttered “well, you never know.” With her Exchange with me, she erased any Doubt as to why I was being questioned and why they never questioned me about anything but what I did for a Work besides what I had already advised them of. How stupid could they be?  

All the while, I had a single-lens reflex (SLR) Film Camera on my Neck with its Telephoto Lens attached. I cannot remember their asking me even once to remove it for them to examine. So many unwitting Hints to me as to their Objective. When they could not lead me to say that I write, they tried about three or four times to make me redefine the Job I did in UK Law Enforcement. When I apprised them, it would be criminal Conduct for me to do so, a Customs Officer smiled, and said that it would be criminal Conduct too in US Law Enforcement to do so. When I got tired of the Farce, I asked them to call London. They went away and after about 10 Minutes came back with Apologies, and “Thank you for your Cooperation, Sir.” Then one of them asked a silly Question. Rummaging through my Stuffs they had already complimented my Shoes. Now, the Guy looked at my Feet and said: “those are Moccasins, do they really not have Soles?” and I thought why is this Person asking me this dumb Question? He is ‘American’. Moccasins are American. If he did not know anything about Moccasins, how was he able to recognize them on my Feet? I barely had Minutes to make my connecting Flight. Arriving at Boarding, a fellow Traveller on the same Flight with me from London asked “why did they pull you out of the Queue, you were there for 45 Minutes, what did you do?“ She had been timing when they took me away from the Queue. I replied with “they were fishing.” Someone reading this might ask; “why did you not show them your Identity Card?” I did not carry it on me because it would have been against Policy. We were not encouraged to take our Identity Cards with us on international Travels for Security Reasons. US Customs and Immigration knew that too the Moment I identified myself. You would ask; “how did they know I was coming in?“ At that time, US Authorities were requesting Passenger Lists from European Carriers, if not from all the others.

Months later back in the UK in 2005, I emailed a US Law Enforcement Group in my Function in Law Enforcement about a Book it had produced pointing to an academic Error which was also a factual Error, inter alia, in it. The Book had been introduced to us by my Managers and I was worried that I would be compelled to follow what was in the Book. These Managers were not in any way as educated as I am but they would never have accepted my pointing to them the Error(s) in the Book. For as long as the Book was produced by Law Enforcement in the US, its Contents had to be Gospel. It was this presumed-Infallibility thinking that made me email those who wrote the Book. The President of Administration of the Group replied to thank me while taking on board my Correction. He finished his Email with “Good luck on May 5“ unquestionably referring to my standing for Election to the UK House of Commons in that Year. Now, how did he know that? I did not disclose it in my Correspondence to his Association. My private Life was different from my Work Life and I kept them separated. He knew because they were already acquainted with my Names Online, and had come across my Work. I had 3 Websites at the Time. I still have my Websites but they are not currently populated because I changed Hosts. So, you see, your "Freedom of Expression" is how a Country interprets it. Evidently, I did not have 'Freedom of Expression' to criticize Bush's 'imperial overreach'5 against 'targets of convenience'6 whereas in the UK I was never bothered with my Criticisms of then Prime Minister Tony Blair's Partnership with Bush on his Adventurism. 

FlipTVNG Broadcasts

I have heard the first Speaker in this https://youtu.be/TZpKJj_HA3w Upload claiming many that the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) identified the Fulani of Nigeria as "the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world" yet he has never, over many times of repeating himself, directed Attention to where the GTI made this Claim. The Truth is that he does not know. He is simply echoing what he heard or read from another Propagandist who like himself, has never read a Line of any GTI Report, and so on. It is a Process of sharing Information we call ‘Chinese Whispers’ when on course, Messages get distorted. Please read my http://ipemndohdaniyan.blogspot.com/2021/04/country-is-not-necessarily-nation-talk.html to understand the GTI Context(s). You can come to your Conclusions from the GTI References I provided therein if you care to consult those References. This Man also does not understand that Federal Land in any State is Federal Land. No State has Jurisdiction over such Lands. The Governors who are reported to have asked President Buhari, if indeed they did, to show them the Cattle-herding Routes in their States did not listen carefully to what their President claimed. Buhari was categorical that these Routes have been trespassed upon. If Buhari is correct that there are such Routes, and also that they have been encroached upon, it stands to reason that Buhari cannot point to them physically for anyone to confirm. However, the Federal Road Blueprints will indicate where these Routes should be. When commenting on these Routes, in Arise News ‘Newsday’ June 2021 Interview https://youtu.be/Md3E3HywdoQ Professor Wole Soyinka denounced them as “colonial” Era Mechanisms. Typically with him, he had not made certain of his Facts. Lawyers – Yoruba Lawyers by the Way – who are challenging Buhari’s Recourse to these Routes are insisting that they emerged from the Nigerian Grazing Reserve Act, 1964. Nigeria acquired Independence from colonial Rule in 1960. It became a Republic in 1963. So, how come a Statute enacted in 1964 is colonial Era Law? However, I am not able to ascertain whether those Lawyers are correct in their Understanding of that Law that it applies only to Northern Nigeria. I have Reasons to doubt their Insistence. Firstly; they unwittingly contradict themselves. Secondly, it is strange that a Piece of Legislation intended only for Northern Nigeria should bear as Title “Nigerian Grazing Reserve Act” rather than “Northern Nigeria Grazing Reserve Act.” Additionally, these Lawyers have not presented a Copy of that Act for public Perusal, and I have been unable to locate a Copy Online. The bottom Line is if Buhari is right then these Lawyers are wrong but if they are right, Buhari is therefore mistaken, period. So, let us have a Copy of the Act, please. 

Speakers like the first Speaker in the FlipTV attached Video are recklessly pushing Nigeria into another Civil War. I suspect that he was not even born when the 1967 – 1970 War ended. Those of us who lived through it – I was about 10 Years old when it started – and who survived it are careful about what we say. For me, I tell it as it happened from January 1966 but really the 1954 Elections presaged what Nigeria as a Territorial-State would be. The 1962 Violence among the Yoruba led to the 1966 January initiating Coup planned and carried out by mostly Igbo Military Officers who executed mainly Fulani and Hausa Military Officers and Politicians. Considering the Igbo led Government in the Aftermath, the July 1966 retaliatory Coup made Sense. Today’s Propaganda against the Fulani will again conclude in History whatever happens next as making Sense. 'Action begets Reaction' whichever Way. One Thing Warmongers should note is that People die needlessly in Wars. So, they must desist from their inflammatory Talk. The continuing bullying of the Fulani with false Accusations by irresponsible Elements from IgboNigeria as we see in the Clip, and in FlipTV’s output in general, will not work. It did not in January 1966 when it was outright Massacre of the Fulani by Igbo Military Officers. It did not also when, according to L. B. Ekpebu,7 Igbo Military Officers were planning a continuation coup d’etat against Igbo Head of State, Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi, to further slaughter Fulani Military Officers and Politicians, but which the to be repeat Victims Fulani Officers forestalled with their pre-emptive Coup of July 1966. It did not work when with their continuation-coup, and Plans to submerge the North  emasculated, IgboNigeria declared War on Nigeria. There is always a limit to how you back anyone into a Corner. It goes either Way. If it is true that FulaniNigerians are harming other Nigerians without Cause, something will snap, really snap eventually. If, on the other hand, IgboNigerians and YorubaNigerians are just being bellicose, something will break. Whatever the Case, if War is triggered, 'the People' will lose their Lives no matter their Nationalities. Plenty Lives again but it ain’t gonna be a short War like previously. It will go on for Generations. It is this simple, really, but Nnamdi Kanu would not be exposed to any Danger because he has already taken Shelter outside Nigeria. To all Intents and Purposes everyone else are Cannon Fodders for Kanu's Ambition to be an unelected President (like the late Biafran General Chukwuemeka Odumegu Ojukwu).   

Arise News ‘Newsday’ June 2021: The Wole Soyinka Interview

Predisposition is always the Foundation of Gullibility. You are a Hate Monger because you are inclined to be so. There is no Ignorance here. Hatemongers simply do not think Things through. Why should they? Idolised Leaders are just Excuses for acting out. The Tendency to hate is innate. It consumes the Person to the Extent of dulling the little Intellect possessed. I watched the Arise News ‘Newsday’ June 2021 Interview with Professor Wole Soyinka https://youtu.be/Md3E3HywdoQ. I was concerned with Aspects of his Responses. Wole Soyinka is a Professor but not a Professor in the Social Sciences. Besides, his academic Qualification is no higher than a Bachelor’s Degree if at all a good one. He is certainly a Nobel Prize Winner but for what, Fiction under the generic Category of 'Literature'? Compare him with Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o who incidentally also has only a Bachelor’s Degree (in English Language). Thiong’o' has written on universal Themes even when writing within the local - Kikuyu, Kenyan, African - Contexts. He has solid footing. I am a Social Scientist, and Social Scientists are trained to understand how Societies work. That Aspect of Social Sciences that is concerned with understanding Governance is Political Science (or Government Studies). 

One; let us examine Soyinka's Take on the Nigerian Government Ban on Twitter from the Political Science/Study Perspective. Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB use Twitter in communicating Instructions and Propaganda to damage the Peace of Nigeria. Buhari responds on the same Twitter to remind the Country of where such Conduct as IPOB’s once took Nigeria. He then accompanied this Reminder with stern Warning of how his Government will not accept Recurrence of that abysmal Chapter in Nigeria’s History. Twitter took down Buhari’s Response. Soyinka did not find anything wrong with Twitter’s Behaviour or Kanu’s or IPOB’s. I do and I will refer you to https://twitter.com/IP_dan_Iyan/status/1402934305589018625?s=19 My Writeup marks a huge Difference between Wole Soyinka, a Fictionist, and myself an Academic Philosopher in Political Studies. I possess a Master of Philosophy (MPhil/PhM) Degree in that Area of Study. 

Two; Soyinka dismissed President Muhammadu Buhari’s intended Recourse to the "Federal" nomadic grazing Routes as defying the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (even as amended), and the Will of State Governors who are simply in Accord with that Constitution and the Will of their Constituencies. However, Soyinka did not direct us to the Portion in that Constitution that forbids Buhari, as President, to act in the Manner he has indicated. The Truth is that Soyinka does not know. Making a bogus Claim or just parroting what Others have said is good enough for him. As a celebrated Fictionist – remember his Nobel Prize? – Soyinka is unable to appreciate where the 'suspension of disbelief' of Fiction stops and the Realities of Life begin. In addition to not having a Mind trained academically to analyse Phenomena, Soyinka is a Yoruba Nationalist (commonly referred to as “Tribalist”). He never once mentioned the Atrocities visited on Northern Nigeria not to talk of sympathising with those Victims. 

I am not sure how my Father would react were he alive to recognize Soyinka as a Nationalist, knowing himself to be Fulani although he presented himself to Nigerians as a probable-Yoruba. Wole Soyinka is one of the three Circumstances my Father was displeased with the Government of Nigeria, as far as I know. My Father even bought Soyinka's ‘The Man Died’. He also took me to see a Soyinka Drama at the University of Ibadan (UI) with Soyinka in the leading Role in 1970 or 1971 or 1972. I cannot recall the Name of the Play but Soyinka wore a Uniform (I think Ossie Davis was in it too). (Days after first publishing this Article, I suddenly remembered the Name of the Play. It was 'Kongi Harvest'. 26June21). The other Situation of my Father’s Grievance against Government was the razing to the Ground of Fela Anikukapo-Kuti’s Kalakuta Republic, the throwing down of his Mother from an Upstairs Window, the Injury caused to younger brother medical Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, and Justice Anyanwu’s infamous ‘Unknown Soldier’ Finding. The third is his Support for the Biafran Cause, which infected me in my Adolescence not yet Teenage Period. On Reflection, now knowing what I know about the Precipitation of the Biafran War, my Father had been most unfair, and unkind to his People, the Fulani.

Buhari mentioned “the Gazette” as his Authority for wishing to resuscitate the "Federal" grazing Routes. This suggests to any intelligent Person – you do not have to be an Intellectual – that these Federal cattle grazing Routes are Matters of Law. Anyone with even the minutiae of Understanding of Law appreciates that notwithstanding how aged a Piece of Law is, it is active – can be activated if dormant – unless it is repealed by another Law. Perhaps, Soyinka can direct me to any Country in the World where an active or activeable Law is overridden by popular Preference or Sentiment. Of course, my Commentaries here presume that there is such a Gazette as suggested by Buhari. This is me; a Person not keen on Buhari writing but fair is fair. The mature Mind is not muddled by Inability to recognize right from wrong. The mature Brain is objective. One Example of this I have noticed in the Nigerian Context is the Governor of Rivers State, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. I remember when he went to the Assistance of Ms Joy Nunieh, an erstwhile Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). She was a Member of the APC, Buhari’s Party, which was using the Police to harass her. Yet, Wike, who is PDP acted "hell no, Dog ain’t eating Dog in my Yard.“ That is a mature, sensible Intellect. 

Some Persons just cannot help abusing their Visibilities to disgorge Nonsense, to propagandize in whatever Form they can get away with, and/or act irresponsibly. It is no Wonder in the Nigerian Instance that the Country has never been geographically peaceful. Its so-called Leaders, and pseudo-Intellectuals are bunkering down with their Pieces of Disinformation. It is in this Character that Wole Soyinka says of President Muhammadu Buhari “restoring June 12 as the Democracy Day [as] purely symbolic [and] an Act of Restitution ...“ Buhari did not restore June 12 as "Democracy Day" because it never was “Democracy Day.“ Buhari made it so. In the English Language you cannot be “restoring” what never was. I am not certain in which Manner Soyinka used the Term “symbolic”; pedestrian or social scientific? In describing Buhari’s Gift of June 12 as Nigeria’s “Democracy Day“ as “Restitution” Soyinka could be no more out of his League in essential thinking. Chief M.K.O Abiola died many Years ago, so where is the “Restitution”? “Restitution” in the English Language is to ‘put it back as it were’. Buhari has simply compensated the Abiola Family by honouring MKO Abiola posthumously. 

Three; I am worried about Soyinka's implied Familiarity with ‘Democracy’. His Arrogance on the Concept reminds me of an Encounter in 1991 with an Academic Philosopher (DPhil/PhD) in Political Science. He had his DPhil from the University of Oxford and was lecturing at the London School of Economics (LSE). This Person gave a Lecture at the University of East Anglia in Norwich entitled “Europe has disinvented War.” This Talker spent about an Hour telling the Audience of about 500 Persons the Benefits of ‘Democracy’. He kept repeating "Democracy", and even brought in George Orwell’s “1984” – a fictionalized Account glorifying ‘Democracy’ – to emphasize his Points. When he stopped, he asked for Questions. For about five Minutes, the Auditorium was quiet. Then I posed to him the following; “You have spent about an Hour telling us about Democracy. You even brought in George Orwell to argue your Points but you never once told us what Democracy is. You did not define it. So, what is Democracy?” I sat almost to the Back of the Room and my Distance to where he stood at the Front was quite far but I could project my Voice. The Man started pacing left and right on the Platform. When he stopped, he stood facing my Direction and looked towards me although he could not see me, and said; “if I have to define Democracy, we will be here all day, but you are right, I should have clarified what I would be talking about right at the beginning. What I have been talking about is Civil Society.“ The Title of his Lecture underlined his Logic, and both Title and Logic were unsound. They were none other than ‘Alice in Wonderland’. I brought his Attention to his faulty Title, and Logic in a casual one to one Conversation after we dispersed from the Auditorium. He conceded. Here was a PhD in Political Studies. Just before we departed the Auditorium, a recently graduated PhD came to congratulate me for my "brilliant question" to the Speaker. I said to her: "why did you not ask the Question? I waited for about 5 Minutes for someone to, before I did." She replied with: "his PhD is from Oxford and he lectures at the LSE." I responded with "so, he can just stand out there and talk a lot of Balderdash?" So, Professor Wole Soyinka, what is Democracy? I will also ask you to explain how and why Nigeria is a “Nation”? 

On a personal Level I challenge Soyinka’s Assertion that he does “not lie against” Others. That Self-Glorification is so manifestly untrue and dishonest. The following narrates my Contention. I came across a Piece; ‘For Linda Ikeji: Wole Soyinka on Mukhtar Alexander Dan’Iyan (@MrAyeDee)’ from a Person called Ikhide in 2015. In that Piece s/he submitted that Soyinka in his Book ‘You Must Set Forth at Dawn: A Memoir’ described the said Dan’Iyan as "a self-hating Igbira, a minority tribe from the Nigerian hinterland, whose yearning to be mistaken for a Fulani aristocratic scion had resulted in his changing his name from Daniyan to Dan’Iyan." The first things I noticed, even more than what was of personal Concern to me, were (a) Soyinka's Acknowledgement that an Igbira Person would be "self-hating", and (b) Soyinka’s Signification of the “Igbira, [as] a minority tribe from the Nigerian hinterland ...” It was evident nationalist Haughtiness. For Soyinka, it is contemptible to belong to a “Minority Tribe” in Nigeria as it is detestable to be from the “Nigerian hinterland.“ Thus, Soyinka's Signification of the “Igbira, [as] a minority tribe from the Nigerian hinterland ...” explained his Acknowledgement of the Igbira as "self-hating." 

The bit that is personal to me in the Wole Soyinka excerpt is his Claim of his Adversary Dan'Iyan "… yearning to be mistaken for a Fulani aristocratic scion ... resulted in his changing his name from Daniyan to Dan’Iyan." The first Question any sensible Person would ask is: ‘how does Soyinka know 'Daniyan' is not Fulani irrespective of the Change in Presentation', that is, notwithstanding how it is rendered? After all, 'Dangote', 'Dankaka', 'Danladi', 'Danmaraya', 'Danmeri', 'Dantata', i.e., are all spelt and presented collapsed and we know these Names as borne by the Fulani (and perhaps the Hausa and Kanuri too). Nobody asked him that Question. However, if it had been asked of him and he had been unable to answer authoritatively (or even convincingly) then he would have lied about, and against his adversarial Dan'Iyan. I know for certain that Wole Soyinka lied about, and against this 'Dan'Iyan'. The fella he was talking about is my Nephew, who is only about 5 Years older than my Son. You can now imagine the Baby Soyinka combatted to the Extent of denigrating his Family Lineage in his Book. Soyinka is much older than I, and still older than Mukhtar's Father, who is my Parents’ first Son. I am the second Son. 

I do not know what really transpired between Soyinka and Mukhtar. The young Man and I have not been in touch since 2003. Soyinka can zero in on Mukhtar and lambast his Person. I would not be bothered in the least, but to abuse Mukhtar's Heritage through him is to disrespect all Mukhtar shares Genealogy with. In doing that, Soyinka forfeited own Entitlement to Respect. Did Soyinka think, even for a Moment, that Mukhtar might not be the only One who has done away with the 'Daniyan' Presentation? Think of being intelligent. Until I came across the Soyinka Excerpt, I respected the Man. I skirted around him. I chose not to criticise anything he said or wrote. I did not do these Things because of his Recognition. I did because of his Age Advantage over me. For me, Recognition is most frequently predicated on consensual validation and/or Gullibility and/or Suggestibility. Very rarely is Recognition bestowed on Merit. 

Mukhtar’s Father, A.F.O Dan'Iyan, is a medical Doctor who also holds a PhD in Medicine, and was a Chief Consultant at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital. This Man’s Initials stand for Yoruba Names, and it is Demonstration of how much our Father wanted to be seen as Yoruba. All his Children were given Yoruba Names at Birth except me who was given one, in addition to an Anglo-Saxon Name, at Age 9 on my Baptism. So, if anyone was "self-hating", it was my Father, and I am not intimidated from saying so. Mukhtar’s Parents did not give him that Name at Birth and his grandfather gave him a Yoruba Name. This grandfather of his did not give my son a Yoruba Name. I would not have accepted it if he did. My grandfather never bore the Name ‘Daniyan’. It was his son, my Father, who converted a Family Identity into a Surname, and presented it incorrectly. I do not know whether he did in Part for the British colonial Masters. My Father was a Constable,8 and he lectured at the Police College. Yoruba Inspector General of Police Sunday Adewusi went through him as a Recruit. My Father was also a Detective and then a Prosecutor. The Yoruba in my Father's early Times were primarily westernised through Western Education. They were next in that educational Hierarchy to the British Colonialists. The Fulani were not in that Space. Besides, my Father's Parents had migrated so far South from their original Home - with my Father and his Siblings I later learnt - that they were now in Proximity to the Yoruba albeit not within Yoruba Borders. So, who was to know what my Father was if he did not tell? The Man surely wanted to be Yoruba. He actually gave himself Yoruba tribal Marks which, unfortunately for him, faded. The Yoruba saw through him, anyway. 

My Father’s ‘Daniyan’ is correctly presented as ‘dan Iyan’. Mukhtar’s ‘Dan’Iyan’ is an incorrect Presentation also. If Wole Soyinka had made his Inquiries he would have rightly brought Mukhtar up on that. The ‘dan’ means ‘son’. The ‘Iyan’ means ‘King’. Thus, ‘dan Iyan’ translates as ‘son of King’. My grandfather had his title of ‘Saiki’. Now, any Idiot can understand why my grandfather never carried the Name ‘dan Iyan’ or my father’s Adulteration of it. My father was also born a Muslim – he converted to Judeo-Christianity, and again any intelligent Person would understand why Mukhtar bears his new Name in addition to conversion to Islam. Me? I am non-religious but I am more familiar with Judeo-Christianity. Wole Soyinka – the Fictionist – never cared to understand Mukhtar’s Background, after all, ‘Freedom of Expression’ for him is to fictionalize Life, and manipulate the Truth into an Untruth or 'suspension of disbelief'. For your Information, Mr Professor Wole Soyinka, Mukhtar Dan’Iyan is not Igbira or IgbiraFulani. He is NupeFulani. The Igbira are Family, and they are from Nupe too. Would Soyinka wish for me to describe him, the Egba Man as an Ijebu Man?

Endnotes

1I did not watch his Propagandum to its Finish, and I did not see the Rest of the Upload either. They are the same Characters, discriminatory but pretending to be intelligent with their awful Grasp of the English Language. 

2I have no credible Experience of their Communities in the Rest of the UK or the wider Western World, but I cannot imagine them being different to England's. 

3'Nationality' recognizes Belongingness to a Nation. 1My 'Nation' is Group Identity founded on common cultural History, and shared Genealogy.)

4Halliday, F., The Making of the Second Cold War, London: Verso, 1983.

5Kennedy, P., The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, New York: Random House, 1987. 

6Williams, P,. 'US-Soviet Relations: Beyond the Cold War', International Affairs, No.2 (1989)) 

7Ekpebu, L. B,. ‘Nigeria: Background to the Crisis’ – https://core.ac.uk

8Constable was the Office of every warranted Police Personnel in Nigeria, as it is in the United Kingdom. It did not denote Rank but Office. It is still the Way in the UK. I do not know if the Office of the Nigerian warranted Police Officer has changed since my Father's time.

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14 June