'The War, For Me, Is Over' - Soyinka On Relationship With Gowon

Playwright and Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka talks about his relationship with the former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, stating that they talk "whenever possible", and that "the war, for me, is over".

During the period of the Nigerian Civil War, Gowon had Soyinka in detention, leading to the discussion on the need for a rapprochement between both of them.

Soyinka said, “We communicate whenever possible, he came for my birthday in Abeokuta here. And when he started to apologise – he made a public apology – I said, ‘There is no need for it.'

“The war, for me, is over.’ The ones I find difficult to forgive are those who lied against me. I don’t like liars; I just cannot stand liars.”

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According to the playwright, the former military leader had, on several occasions, reached out to him.

He said “He even asked the former ambassador to locate me so that anytime he was passing – I was in Europe and America then – so we could meet and talk.

“And I said, ‘any time’ but there is really nothing much to talk about.

“We hit it on very well and we joked.

“The ice was broken and since then, we have been friends.”