Friends, associates and well wishers of the Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, celebrate his birthday as he attains 90 years
In the celebration of the 90th birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renamed the prestigious National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos after the ageing Nobel Laureate. Tinubu renamed the National Arts Theatre as the “Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts”.
The president disclosed the renaming in a statement which he personally signed on Sunday, July 14, 2024 wherein he described Soyinka as a national treasure and global icon. Tinubu said in the statement that Soyinka’s remarkable literary achievements and his unwavering dedication to human dignity and justice deserved all the accolades and honour he (Tinubu) bestowed on him.
Joining Soyinka’s admirers across the globe to celebrate the Nigerian academic, Tinubu said, “Professor Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Laureate Prize in 1986, deserves all the accolades as he marks the milestone of 90 years on earth.
“He remains the shining light of our nation, the gadfly that pokes our national soul, decrying tyranny and oppression, urging us to be better as a nation”.
The Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE) is celebrating his 90th birthday in a series of events that would be running till the end July 2024. The celebration features a series of local and international activities. These include a symposium and poetry reading which held in Ramat, Morocco on July 9, 2024. The symposium was organized by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA).
According to the Co-Producer of WSICE, Teju Kareem, the mentoring session of the celebration is among the ways Soyinka intends to impact the Nigerian child positively. Kareem hinted that the WSICE started in 2010 in Lagos to commemorate the 76th birthday anniversary of Soyinka, since then the programme has been running annually at its permanent location in Abeokuta, Ogun State with satellite events in Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti, Rivers States among others. The WSICE programme also runs in Ghana, Barbados and London in the United Kingdom.
Professor Soyinka has often been described as a man of great distinction to the cause of humanity by his admirers and associates. However, a lot of other Nigerians regard him as a man of many controversies. For example, since last year, Professor Soyinka has been having verbal altercation with the Obidient Movement, a crowd of followers of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) at the 2023 general election.
While Soyinka insisted that all was well with the presidential election which his friend, Tinubu won, the Obidient Movement accused him of pretending that the election of Tinubu was fair when many thought otherwise. Soyinka labelled the Obidients as fascists.
But in his birthday message, the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has described Soyinka as a patriot and pride of Nigeria and Africa. In his congratulatory message to the Nobel Laureate on Friday, July 12, 2024, signed by Gboyega Akosile, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Sanwo-Olu praised the celebrant for his commitment to democracy, commending him for his roles during the dark days of the military junta which contributed to the restoration of democracy in the country.
Sanwo-Olu: “On behalf of my family, the government and the people of Lagos State, I express warm felicitations to the Nobel Laureate, Professor Oluwole Soyinka, on his 90th birthday anniversary. We are happy to associate with one of Nigeria’s pride and biggest exports to the world.
“Professor Soyinka is a literary icon who has excelled in all genres of literature, and his prodigious works have continued to be a reference point in academic circles all over the world.
“He is a great pride to Nigeria, Africa and the entire black race. His long years of outstanding accomplishments and consistency in the crusade for the wellbeing of the citizens had culminated in his legendary status.
“Prof. Soyinka played a crucial role during the June 12, 1993 presidential election annulled struggle by aligning with the pro-democracy activists to fight the military junta for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.
“As Prof. Soyinka joins the nonagenarians, I wish him good health and more years of meritorious service to our dear country, Nigeria, Africa and the world. May we continue to benefit from his deep knowledge and worthy example”.
