Gumsu, one of the daughters of
the late maximum ruler, Gen. Sani
Abacha, has taken to Twitter to
snarl abuse at Nobel Laureate,
Prof. Wole Soyinka.
She described the iconic writer as
an "empty professor", accusing
him of assuming the role of a critic
in the Nigerian polity because of
financial gains.
Though the reason behind the
Twitter rant could not be
ascertained as at the time of filing
this report, her earlier message in
a tweet had stated, "Do the thing
you fear the most. If there's one
thing that will change your
thoughts quicker than anything
else, it's facing your fears."
However, no sooner had she
posted the tweet than a barrage of
criticisms started trailing her
comment. The first set of criticisms
came from some of her fans on
the social network.
One Sal Adeleke, tweeting via
@HAJMAJA, said, "Look, if you
bring in Soyinka, people might get
offended and start insulting your
family. I wouldn't like that to
happen for a reason. Please, don't
get involved in this game. It seems
you have transformed to
something else since the release
of Al-Mustapha. What's going on?"
But just as Adeleke predicted, a
floodgate of criticism was
unleashed on Gumsu by many
Nigerians who deemed her action
as an utter disrespect to the
person and standing of Soyinka.
Many viewed the attack as a wild
and extremely rude show of
disrespect while others described
her effrontery as "shameless
boldness." Some accused Gumsu
of not having responsible adults in
her family, with many others
urging her to return the money his
father looted before coming out to
comment on national issues.
A Twitter user, Sam Adebayo,
tweeting via @olujiire, said, "Do
you set yourself on memory lane
to remember how your father
died? I bet you don't have elders
in your household."
Another user of the micro-
blogging service, Paul, explained
that he is still at a loss as to how a
daughter of a renowned 'thief'
would describe Soyinka as an
"empty professor."
He said, "Imagine, the daughter of
a thief, referring to a renowned
Prof. Wole Soyinka as a mad empty
professor.I wonder!"
Lending a voice to the criticism,
Nigeria's online hacking group,
NaijaCyberHactivists, tweeting via
@NaijaCyberHack, said, "It is
unfortunate that a family like yours
(Gumsu) still comment on issues
in this country. A family that
defines all what shame connotes."
A member of the popular online
forum, nairaland.com, with the
name, Phull said, "What did your
Father Abacha amount to in this
life with all the stolen billions and
hundreds of murdered Nigerians?
What have you as a person
achieved in your pathetic
existence?
Professor Wole Soyinka is one of
the brightest lights from Nigeria
and Africa, on his own merit
alone! This is a man who was at
one point or the other Professor at
Harvard, Cornell, with Honorary
Doctorate degrees from Leeds,
Harvard, and Princeton.
In case you don't know, these are
not the schools where 'thieves' are
awarded phoney Honoris Causa.
In fact, no one in your generation
would be considered worthy of
admission even into any of these
universities for you are so dull, you
have absolutely no brains that can
be educated!"
Threading softly with Gumsu, one
Thomas George asked, "Gumsu,
what has Prof Soyinka done to
deserve this tongue lashing? He is
a Nigerian icon, in this time of very
few of his type, you know."
One Shehu Muhammad-Bello said
on Twitter that Gumsu's attack on
Soyinka could be a desperate
attempt by her to get favour and
attention from the wife of the
President, Patience Jonathan, as
the latter recently took a swipe at
the Nobel laureate.
Mohammed-Bello explained,
"What's her reason for attacking
the Prof as such? I mean he
(Soyinka) may be wrong in many
things but not on Dame Patience.
Unless if she has a reason for
trying to please the new first family
for favours, if not, then why?"
Summing up the barrage of
criticisms, Grace Ben-Kato wrote
on Facebook, "I am not surprised.
She is morally bankrupt; empty
and has nothing to offer. That is
why she can open her dirty mouth
to insult a man who commands a
lot of respect."
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