Nobel Laureate and celebrated Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka has responded to the national honor conferred upon him by the Nigerian government, urging the public to view it not as personal recognition, but as symbolic of a much broader democratic struggle. Soyinka was among the 66 individuals honored by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Democracy Day, June 12, 2025, for their role in the fight to restore democratic governance in Nigeria.

During the ceremony at the National Assembly, Soyinka was awarded the prestigious Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). While acknowledging the gesture, the literary icon made clear in remarks reported by Arise News and The Cable that the recognition was merely representative of countless unnamed heroes who sacrificed for democracy.

“There have been many great participants who are not on the list. I think we should accept the fact that it is inevitable, in any struggle so multidimensional, cutting across the entire swathe of the nation,” Soyinka said during the press briefing, “Just see those of us who are honoured as mere representatives of a vast movement. That really is our merit, this little bit. That’s all.”

Soyinka emphasized that the June 12 movement—which arose following the annulment of the 1993 presidential election widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest—was not confined to a select group of activists, but included individuals from all walks of life. “The struggle cut across every part of the nation, including the military, clerical, academic, market workers, factory workers, among others,” he said, according to Arise News.

Soyinka used the occasion to call for a sober reflection on Nigeria’s current democratic state, cautioning against the erosion of civil liberties and the shrinking of civic space.

“You know, sometimes one gets to a point where you feel that maybe there is a slave gene embedded in certain sections of humanity,” Soyinka remarked, in an apparent critique of authoritarian tendencies in the region. “In other words, that some people, some kinds of people, some breed of people, feel happier being enslaved.”

Referencing the alarming return of military coups and their popularity in some parts of West Africa, he added, “Otherwise, how do you explain the spread of the state of military dictatorship just spreading across the West African sub-region to the acclaim of people?”

While President Tinubu praised the honorees as “heroes” who had made “outstanding contributions to the nation’s democracy,” Soyinka urged a more critical engagement with history and a deeper commitment to the democratic ideals symbolized by June 12. Similar to how Ken Saro-Wiwa’s family brought perspective to his pardon also on Democracy Day, Soyinka’s remarks provide useful context to what was otherwise deemed a celebratory event.