My father’s generation failed woefully

By Onyeka Nwelue

Only if young Nigerians can boldly put all the blame on their parents, we will begin to live right and start to correct all the mistakes they made. Our parents’ generations are realistic failures…Soyinka fought then and he is still fighting. Our generation forget their weak parents, to blame Soyinka, who even at 86, is still speaking out against the injustices caked up by our dangerous parents in all corridors of power.

YESTERDAY, I was on the phone for about three hours, with one of my artistes. He is currently putting finishing touches on his album. I made him listen to a Soyinka broadcast on BBC, where he interviewed Gowon and Ojukwu, the two warlords that orchestrated the destruction of the political and economic and social mindscapes of Nigeria. Listening to them, you will feel enraged by their ego and arrogance. Two fanciful birds, who destroyed and murdered people. Even their moderator is a man Gowon kept in solitary confinement, accusing him of sabotage and called him a traitor. 

I have spent times with Wole Soyinka. Quality time. I am proud of those times. They are the greatest gifts I could receive any time. In Dakar in 2018, he took me to the small bar in King Fahd Hotel; me and him. What an evening! I had just battled with the Rwandan government, after they jailed me for ‘publicly insulting’ President Kagame and their cocky airline, RwandAir. I asked Soyinka why he would forgive Gowon. He rolled his eyes and said: “It’s no big deal. I had to.” I looked at him again and added, “I can’t forgive Kagame and his people.” He asked: “Why not?” I answered: “The trauma.” He laughed. 

After the beer, we walked to the restaurant. In French, he ordered Senegalese jollof. He dished out food from his own plate to mine, saying: “Try this and let me know.”

It’s like the more time you spend with Soyinka, the bigger the admiration of him. That evening, I took the bulk of his time, asking questions, but more so, he listened to me attentively. I feel loquacious when I am around him. At his age, he is trying to make amends of the things his generation did. Even at that age, Soyinka attended one of the court outings where the Nigerian government was trying to nail Omoyele Sowore to death. He was there. 

But, where are your parents? At home, giving advice and asking you to dress properly. Or not attend protests. Nigerian parents are quite a disgusting bunch, because they are extremely judgmental. Sometimes, when I speak to my father, who could be about 20 years younger than Wole Soyinka, I dish out advice to him too: “Daddy, why do you stay one place? Why do you act like you are old? Don’t you see Wole Soyinka? Daddy, why don’t you have the money Dangote has? What were you doing when he was making money?”

Only if young Nigerians can boldly put all the blame on their parents, we will begin to live right and start to correct all the mistakes they made. Our parents’ generations are realistic failures. 

Soyinka fought then and he is still fighting. Our generation forget their weak parents, to blame Soyinka, who even at 86, is still speaking out against the injustices caked up by our dangerous parents in all corridors of power. If we do not honour this man properly and ask for forgivenesses, we will continue to live in danger. 

Whether they #EndSARS or not, we are still an endangered species. We must begin to question our parents and not try to live like them, because they failed completely. Shame on Nigerian parents!

—Nwelue is a writer, filmmaker and Historian, Advisory Board Member, Global Community of Social Sciences: https://www.globecos.com/advisory-board, writes from Jo’Burg