Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has dedicated the National any honours bestowed upon him in relation to June 12 to the late Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti.
Soyinka stated this on Saturday, 14 June during the dialogue, themed “June 12: Romancing the Embers,” and said Beko was not just a defender of human rights, a champion of good governance, and a tireless campaigner for democracy, but an intelligent, resourceful, and fearless willing to take dare-devil risks in pursuit of justice.
Prof also used the occasion to ask President Bola Tinubu to start an investigation into the death of many Nigerians like Dele Giwa, Bola Ige, and Kudirat Abiola saying it has become inevitable.
Soyinka said that honouring the June 12 legacy must go beyond annual rituals and speeches arguing that justice for those who died in the fight for democracy would lend deeper meaning to the day’s commemoration.
Meanwhile, Soyinka, says former military president Ibrahim Babangida’s memoir, ‘A Journey in Service,’ is incomplete, insisting that the retired general must write a follow-up as his autobiography remains unfinished.
“I called him (Babangida) and I said that your memoir is not finished. And I said isn’t it about time that we name names in this matter? Babangida’s book should be read side by side with Professor Omo Omoruyi’s. Omoruyi was there,” Soyinka said, referring to Professor Omoruyi’s own account of the annulment, The Tale of June 12: The Betrayal of the Democratic Rights of Nigerians.
“I told him, you haven’t finished your book. You have to write another one. That’s my position,” Soyinka asserted.
