Renowned Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has voiced his disappointment at the state of social media in Nigeria, describing it as dragged down to the “lowest common denominator” and taken over by what he refers to as “barbarians.”
Speaking at the 48th President’s party and his investiture as an honorary member of Abeokuta Club in Ogun State on Saturday, Soyinka expressed his lament over the diminishing intellectual standards on social media in Nigeria.
He contrasted this with other societies where social media serves as a valuable platform for intellectual discourse.
Soyinka criticized the absence of reasoned engagement in the Nigerian context and highlighted the influence of those who have compromised the intellectual integrity of social media.
He urged the country’s intellectual and creative community to step in and salvage the nation from the negativity and monstrosity that social media has become.
“I believe in the community of the intellect of minds and creativity to rescue us from the monstrosity that social media has become (in this country),” he concluded during his induction as an honorary member of the Abeokuta Club.
