A former presidential aide Reno Omokri has urged singer Davido to ignore Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka who advised him not to apologise to Muslims over a controversial video.
Davido’s post last Friday of the video for the song ‘Jaye Lo’ by his signee Logos Olori where the latter is seen sitting on the roof of a mosque with some persons praying in front of the mosque before bursting into dancing has been greeted with criticism by Muslims. While Davido has taken down the video, he has yet to apologise.
Soyinka released a statement on Tuesday, saying the musician does not need to apologise. According to him, the attacks on Davido are misplaced priorities.
In a tweet, however, on Wednesday, Mr Omokri urged Davido not to listen to Soyinka whom he noted was an atheist.
He said, “It would be very unwise for Davido to take the counsel of an atheist like Professor Wole Soyinka, who is telling him he owes no apology to Muslims, over the video for the song jaye lo. This is a man who does not believe in God. How can he then know how people who believe in God feel?
“Islam belongs to Muslims, who assert that they received it from God. It is not for an atheist or a Christian or any practitioner of another religion other than Islam to tell them how to feel when their faith is used in ways they disapprove of.
“Is this not the same Professor Wole Soyinka who, just two weeks ago, on July 7, 2023, condemned the Emir of Ilorin for stopping an Osun priestess, Yeye Ajesikemi Omolara, from holding an Isese festival in Ilorin, and demanded redress for Osun worshippers? So, why is he now against redress for Muslims?
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“Nigerians need to remember that this is the same Wole Soyinka who, on May 8, 2023, boasted that Peter Obi apologised to him in person over the attacks on his person by Obidients. Yet, he is here counselling Davido not to apologise to Muslims over a video they consider sacrilegious.
“Christians have also previously taken offence with movies and music that, in our view, are sacrilegious about the person of our Lord and Saviour. These include the movies The First Temptation of Christ and The Last Temptation of Christ. We collectively boycotted these movies and demanded an apology and their recall. We were also upset when Mallam Nasir El-Rufai made a crude joke about our Lord and Saviour. How will we feel if a Muslim celebrity comes out to say we do not deserve any apology for those movies and jokes?
“In Mark 12:31, our Lord told us to love our neighbour as ourselves. Muslims are our neighbours. They joined us in condemning El-Rufai when he made his crude Jesus joke. They united with us in asking him to apologise. Under pressure from both Christians and Muslims, El-Rufai apologised.”
Omokri added that deleting the video was a first step and apologising would put the matter to an end and assuage the hurt feelings of the Muslim Ummah.
