Chief Abiola Ogundokun, publisher of Conscience International Magazine, carpets the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka in a 1,478 worded letter where he addressed the professor as a liar.
Soyinka had first fired a salvo in his book, “InterInventions, Between Defective Memory and The Public Lie” where he alleged that Ogundokun always made himself available “for hire to the most noxious of Nigerian rulers, both at the central and state levels, most notably, the infamous rogue and murderer, General Sani Abacha.”
He also labelled the Conscience publisher a liar, rapist and fugitive.
Ogundokun, a prominent Iwo High Chief, gave Soyinka back in his letter by calling him an un-relentless liar. In his words, he said “My first thought was not to dignify you with a response but I have been inundated with phone calls and electronic mails from friends, admirers and family members, both home and in the Diaspora, seeking to know the truth about you and your spurious allegations,” Ogundokun said.
In the letter he sent to Soyinka, Ogundokun called the nobel laureate an “un-relentless liar with a knack for hypocrisy”.
Ogundokun said he was neither appointed by the late General Abacha nor commissioned at anytime to blackmail Soyinka.
He, however, said the expose Conscience International magazine did on the nobel laureate, “which revealed your shady deals were a product of my patriotism and nationalistic duty which I owe millions of Nigerians as a reporter.”
The publisher added: “My grouse against you is that you parade yourself as part of the solution to Nigeria and rather than proffer solution, you compound the existing problems, presumably because of a selfish inordinate ambition.”
On the allegation that he is a rapist and a fugitive, Ogundokun said he had on many occasions challenged Soyinka to tell the world the name of the rape victim, the charge number, address of the court where he was charged and the judge that convicted him.
“Over the years, you have failed to do this. Instead of defending the allegations against you, you went on to attack my magazine and my humble self with the illusion that you are untouchable”.
Ogundokun challenged Soyinka to a public debate on radio and television on the allegations he made against him.
“I will prove it at that debate that you are an endemic liar. I am waiting for you. I have all the documents of your fraudulent practises and I will expose you the more. Do not forget in a hurry the fate you suffered at the Oputa Panel. I await you again”.
