‘Obidients’ is a tag used for the supporters of the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi. And they are notorious for trolling people with opposing views.
Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has compared ‘Obidients’ who said he should be lynched with Muslim extremists who kill for blasphemy.
‘Obidients’ is a tag used for the supporters of the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi. And they are notorious for trolling people with opposing views.
Soyinka, who spoke in a recent interview with Noble Nigeria described both ‘Obidients’ and Muslim extremists as fundamentalists of different kinds.
SaharaReporters reported on Thursday that the literary icon expressed hope that the former Anambra State governor would not contest the next election, arguing that the actions of the Labour Party leadership in the last election showed that he and his team were not fit to govern Nigeria.
He further accused Obi of controlling the online trolls responsible for the insults directed at him and other prominent figures who raised critical questions about the party’s campaign during the electioneering period.
Soyinka, however, suggested that the Constitution of Nigeria needs to be changed and rewritten to find a workable and efficient constitution that will enable the country to deal with its multiplicity of ethnic nationalities and religions.
The literary icon said that Nigerians have to accept the secularisation of the nation, so that "we don't have different laws being applied as in the Constitution today where different laws are being applied in one part of the country - something is acceptable here and is criminalised there. And then you have the instrument of justice - structures of justice in the local - Sharia and local government being able to pass life sentences on youths who are deemed to have blasphemed against a certain religion.
"Well, if somebody doesn't believe in an entity, it is impossible to blasphemy that non-existent entity and yet they sit in all solemnity, and for writing and debating on the internet they sentence youth to life".
He recalled how he received a text message regarding the trial of Bala Mubarak who said, "I don't believe in God - there's no such entity as Supreme God". He lamented that “for that, you lock somebody up. All you have to do is to avoid him, don't invite that person to your house. If he wants to marry your daughter, you place as many obstacles as you want to frustrate him.
"To even dare to want to sentence somebody to death for saying that I don't believe in what you believe, well that is not a nation. That is a terror enclave and it’s that kind of thing that led to the brutal killing of young women like Deborah Samuel".
He recalled that the last time he mentioned the unjustifiable killing of Deborah, somebody posted something saying that he was trying to create religious tension to avoid talking about hunger in the land.
"This is the kind of mentality that we have to deal with in our country and it will make you just disgusted and you will feel that ‘am I wasting my time and energy?’ A daylight murder which is a model for others to emulate is committed".
He also picked holes in Nigeria’s judicial system, which he said makes it possible for criminals identified to escape judgement like in the case of Deborah.
"The judge sat and sat; the prosecution did not show up. And one of the accused now has the nerve, the courage to show on that same Internet the box of matches which he used to set the body of that young lady on fire. And when somebody like me says we cannot let this drop not only because it is a crime but because you have those in authority from that religion who have the nerve to open their mouth and say it was justified.
"In other words, encouraging others to emulate. And then when I speak someone goes on the Internet post and says, ‘Oh yes! Wole Soyinka is criticising this’. I have been criticising religious fundamentalism before those idiots were born, before he was even conceived and yet the Internet authorises it. That is the penalty of democratization which I believe in. So we’ve got to change the protocols of our association.
"We’ve got to agree on setting basic, minimal protocols of mutual conduct and interaction. We have to re-establish and re-enthrone the principle of belief and non-believe. I teach from time to time in a Muslim country, Abu Dhabi University. I see how they manage their religion there.
“I see how they encourage ecumenism in the conduct in different parts of that nation and yet here they take that same religion, abuse it and use it as a means of control because that is what it is all about. Control.
“You terrorise people by saying this is what I believe in and therefore this is the control point, go against it, you don't believe it then you are in trouble.
"How are they different from those we were talking about earlier (referring to Obidients) who say lynch Wole Soyinka because he disagrees with us? It is the same fundamentalists in different kinds. Empty scale devoid of the brain, just division of domination."
Earlier in the course of the interview, Soyinka accused Peter Obi of encouraging ‘Obidients’ to attack him and others with opposing views online in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.
In May 2023, Obi visited Prof Soyinka days after the latter came under criticism on social media by LP and Obi’s supporters or ‘Obidients’ for faulting some remarks made by Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the LP.
The literary icon had described Baba-Ahmed’s comments as “fascistic language”.
The renowned playwright had in a statement said ‘Obidients’ wore their refusal to “accept constructive criticism as a badge of honour”, while addressing the online attacks against him.
Soyinka who will be turning 90 in July, said if Nigeria really wants to remain together, the only way “is to sit down and write a new constitution for ourselves, and then say this is the instrument of our association, those who do not agree with it collectively please opt out. Leave the rest of us who believe in this to form our own nation. So it is not a question of succession, no, it is a question of voluntary association or voluntary dissociation."