Nigerian oil magnate and billionaire, Mr Tonye Patrick Cole, has narrated his recent flight experience which was an encounter he witnessed between the Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, and a young Nigerian, who asked the octogenarian to stand up on a seat originally allocated to him (the young man) in the aircraft.
Cole who narrated the story via his Instagram page, with a title: “Wole Soyinka and Airline Passenger,” submitted: “I couldn’t understand how we got to this point where we no longer have respect for elders.”
In the story Cole published on his social media page, he added a picture showing Prof Soyinka and the young man seated beside him after occupying his seat, and detailed the ordeal thus:
Mr Tonye Cole and Prof Wole Soyinka after the flight experience
“Wole Soyinka and Airline Passenger
“@professorwolesoyinka #celebrategreatness #relationshipsmatter met one of the greatest Nigerians walking the earth today and as with other times, he was genteel, witty, forthright and humble. My smile gives me away as he permitted the picture whereas he would have preferred to get back to his newspapers. Then we boarded the flight and after assisting him with his bags, he took the window seat and promptly started reading again.
“A few minutes later this young man, baseball cap, t-shirt to show his muscled chest and tattooed biceps boards the plane and tells Prof he is on his seat (which he was). Those of us including the cabin crew tried to reason with Bobo Fine to let the old man be but the chap refused. He insisted Prof should vacate his window seat, which the old man quietly did for his original aisle seat next to him.
“I couldn’t understand how we got to this point where we no longer have respect for elders, even if are so ignorant of the great global personalities in our midst. Is it too much to ask that an elderly man be allowed to remain in a seat allotted to you in the same business class cabin and the same row?
“Na wa o!”
