Renowned Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has praised former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for standing firm and refusing to step down for then-presidential aspirant Bola Tinubu during the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in 2022.
Soyinka, speaking in Abuja on Saturday at Amaechi’s 60th birthday celebration, commended the former Rivers State governor for his unyielding political character and described his actions at the primaries as a rare display of courage in contemporary Nigerian politics.
Reflecting on the primary election from which Tinubu eventually emerged victorious, Soyinka said he followed the event live from Abu Dhabi and was particularly struck by Amaechi’s refusal to bow out like many others.
“The main reason why I had to be here today — it’s first of all that I admire Rotimi Amaechi’s fighting spirit,” Soyinka said.
“And it’s a very consistent one, but the most memorable for me, because I watched this event live on TV from Abu Dhabi.
“I wanted to see the drama of all the primaries going on during the election. I wasn’t here, but I said I wanted to watch this contest, and I’m glad I did.
“Because it gave me a great—most malicious pleasure, rascally if you like, pleasure-to-to — see the incumbent president being given a dose of his own medicine.”
Soyinka drew a historical parallel between Amaechi’s actions in 2022 and Bola Tinubu’s political resilience during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, noting that Tinubu himself had once stood alone against power consolidation.
“Let me explain this. For somebody, we knew as the last man standing when he fought to a standstill, a former president who was manoeuvring himself into a position of changing the constitution and obtaining a third term.
“He keeps denying it, but he and I know for a fact, and so do others. And towards that goal, he was sort of emasculating the powers of the constituent elements of the federation.
“And by the end, this president was the last man standing and resisted that effort. All the others had sort of cowed down because their statutory allocation had been stopped, contrary to the Constitution.
“But one man — he was the last man standing. Well, he obtained a dose of his own medicine from Rotimi Amaechi during the primaries. I enjoyed that very much.”
The Nobel laureate emphasized the importance of Amaechi’s symbolic resistance, especially at a time when most others had capitulated under pressure or political compromise.
“While everybody was, you know, falling over one another conceding, there was one individual who got on the podium and he said no, I’m not conceding.
“I didn’t come all the way here to commit ‘lúlẹ̀’. And that man was Rotimi Amaechi. And I said this is what democracy is all about.”
In the 2022 APC primary, Bola Tinubu secured 1,271 votes to win the ticket, with Amaechi finishing second with 316 votes. Then Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo placed third with 235 votes.
Soyinka’s comments add a deeper historical and democratic context to the political choices made during that period and highlight Amaechi’s enduring reputation for defiance in Nigerian politics.
