Wole Soyinka Clarifies: No Meeting with President Tinubu, Yet To Deliver Atheist’s Letter

 Renowned Nobel Laureate and elder statesman, Wole Soyinka, has clarified that he has not yet had a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, and as a result, he could not have raised the matter of detained atheist Mubarak Bala.

Bala, the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, is currently serving a 24-year prison sentence on charges of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad. He had renounced his Islamic faith in 2014.

In 2022, a Kano State High Court found Bala guilty of blasphemy, leading to his conviction two years after his initial arrest….CONTINUE READINE

In a recent event, the launch of “A Letter to a President,” Soyinka had pledged his commitment to personally delivering Bala’s open letter to President Tinubu once the opportunity arose.

However, in a statement released on Tuesday, the esteemed professor clarified that he has not yet delivered the letter to Tinubu as their meeting has not taken place.

Soyinka revealed that he has been contacted by various local and international human rights organizations inquiring about the outcome of delivering the letter to the president.

Soyinka emphasized, “I regret to state that some media have completely misreported this, and I have yet to meet the current tenant of Aso Rock.”

He urged all those who were involved in the document’s launch on August 5 and supporters of Bala to continue their efforts, through various avenues, to secure the release of the young man who has been unjustly persecuted for exercising his freedom of thought and expression.