Wole Soyinka Finally Breaks Silence On His Viral ‘Airplane Seat’ Saga

Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has finally reacted to an incident on an airplane where a younger Nigerian traveler reportedly asked him to vacate his seat.



Soyinka described the incident as a ’very minor thing’ and added that he had ’forgotten all about it.

The matter was first shared on social media by former Rivers State APC governorship candidate, Tonye Cole.

Mr. Cole sparked a huge debate online after explaining how the yet-to-identified man defied pleas to allow the 84-year-old writer and former professor to keep the seat.

Some Nigerians sympathized with Mr. Soyinka while others defended his seatmate. Others criticized Mr Cole for making an issue of what should pass as a minor event.

The debate continued Tuesday, trending on Twitter for the second day.

It became even more heated after a social media user claimed he was the man at the centre of the incident, and that Mr Soyinka later applauded his decision as they chatted in-flight.

Media entrepreneur, Mo Abudu, has shared a copy of Mr. Soyinka’s email response on Instagram on Tuesday afternoon.

In his response, Mr Soyinka described the incident as a ’very minor thing’ and added that he had ’forgotten all about it.’ He said:

”Someone sent me Patrick Tonye’s comment on the plane incident, and I saw your brief comment. It was a very minor thing and I’d forgotten all about it. However, after reading the boy’s response, I became curious. First, I never exchanged a word with him throughout beyond inviting him to take his allotted seat. Never spoke a word to him after that. Certainly never exchanged contact. So of course, I wonder if it’s the very individual who’s posted this or a total fake.
”The phenomenon of stolen identities takes very strange dimensions and has become a source of worry. I wonder if this is one such. Any way of your finding out. I don’t operate in the social media as you probably recall.’’