Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has threatened to lead a boycott of government-owned media and a media war against the Muhammadu Buhari administration if it does not stop trying to gag the media.
He stated this at the Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos during an interaction with the media on Friday.
The octogenarian was reacting to the query issued to Channels Television by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) over some interviews the regulator deemed “unfair” to the government.
Soyinka described the query, which has been equally condemned by many prominent Nigerians, “as one of the most semi-illiterate queries” he had ever seen.
The popular playwright said, “Who decides professionalism? Is it NBC or mass communication fora? It is Channels TV; it can be anyone. This is the first time I am seeing a kind of query the media is getting. This is one of the most semi illiterate queries that I have ever seen. Next time, those letters should be thrown into garbage bin. This should be stopped as soon as possible.
“We have a responsibility to tell the government that next time any media institution is sanctioned on this trivial or ludicrous ground, we will fulfill our responsibility by mobilising the nation to boycott all government media and we shall wage this media war against the government.
“Decree Number 4 has no place in a democracy and it is about time we emphasise that both in language and in act.”
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