Soyinka: Amaechi Gave Tinubu a Taste of His Own Medicine

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has praised former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, for showing rare courage during the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries in 2022. According to Soyinka, Amaechi’s refusal to step down for Bola Tinubu was a powerful act of political defiance—one that mirrored Tinubu’s own historic resistance years ago.

Speaking at Amaechi’s 60th birthday celebration, Soyinka recalled watching the primaries live from Abu Dhabi. What he witnessed, he said, left a lasting impression.

“I admired Amaechi’s fighting spirit. It’s consistent and admirable. Watching him stand firm, while others bowed out, gave me mischievous pleasure,” Soyinka remarked, smiling.

Soyinka drew parallels between Amaechi’s stance and Tinubu’s own resistance to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged third-term bid years earlier. Tinubu, then Lagos State Governor, had famously refused to back down when Obasanjo attempted to centralize power.

“He was the last man standing during Obasanjo’s push for a third term. Now, during the APC primaries, Amaechi gave him a taste of that same medicine,” Soyinka said.

While most other aspirants stepped aside or conceded, Amaechi took to the stage and declared his intent to fight to the end, famously saying:

“I didn’t come all the way here to commit lúle (failure).”

Soyinka called that moment a triumph of democratic principle—when one man refused to follow the crowd, standing up for his beliefs in a tightly controlled political landscape.

In the 2022 primary, Tinubu won with 1,271 votes, followed by Amaechi with 316, and then Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo with 235. Yet for Soyinka, Amaechi’s courage on that stage left an impact that went beyond numbers.

“That’s what democracy is about,” Soyinka concluded.