By Halimah Olamide
Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has said he would prefer to wait for one year before he assesses the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Soyinka spoke yesterday when he visited the President who is holidaying in Lagos.
Tinubu took over governance on May 29, this year succeeding former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking after the meeting with the president, Soyinka said he would assess the Tinubu administration after one year.
The octogenarian described this as a personal policy of his, saying this one-year delay gives the president enough time to “make up” for lost grounds.
“Well, you know, something you may have noticed about me is that most heads of state, when they take office, I always leave them alone for about the first year…because they need time,” he said.
“I know when they come in, they don’t start from ground zero. They often start even lower than ground zero and they have to make up.
“So, I’m adopting the same principle this time. When you see me next year, ask the same question again and listen to my answer.”
Soyinka said the visit was “embarrassing” because he had one time told Tinubu not to contest at the 2023 presidential election.
“I came here with a seven-point agenda. And we had a very thorough discussion on those items.
“Actually, it’s an embarrassing visit because when I visited him the last time, it was to try and persuade him not to run for office. I told Atiku (Abubakar) and himself to please leave the ground so young people could run. That’s the last time we met about five years ago.
“So I came to see how he was doing after ignoring my advice. I came to see how both he and his wife were weathering Nigeria, and to wish them a happy Christmas,” he explained.