By Gabriella Ogbu<\/p>\n
The National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, has been renamed in honor of Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka by President Bola Tinubu.<\/p>\n
In a heartfelt letter personally signed and released to the media on the occasion of Soyinka’s 90th birthday, President Tinubu expressed profound admiration and recognition for Soyinka\u2019s contributions to literature and social justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased to join admirers around the world in celebrating the 90th birthday of Nigeria\u2019s iconic son and the world-renowned Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde, famously known as Wole Soyinka,\u201d Tinubu wrote.<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cTomorrow, the 13th of July, will be the climax of the series of local and international activities held in his honor. To underscore the global relevance of the literary giant, a symposium and poetry reading were held in Rabat, Morocco, on the 9th of July. The event was organized by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA).\u201d<\/p>\n
Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, has made significant impacts in various fields, including literature, human rights, and political activism. Tinubu highlighted Soyinka\u2019s remarkable achievements, stating, \u201cProfessor Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Literature Prize in 1986, deserves all the accolades as he marks the milestone of 90 years on earth. Having beaten prostate cancer, this milestone is a fitting testament to his ruggedness as a person and the significance of his work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinubu emphasized the importance of honoring Soyinka while he is still alive, announcing the renaming of the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts. \u201cIt is also fitting we celebrate this national treasure while he is still with us. I am, accordingly, delighted to announce the decision of the Federal Government to rename the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, as the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president praised Soyinka\u2019s unwavering advocacy for equity and justice, noting his vast literary contributions and his role as a societal gadfly. \u201cWhen he turned 80, I struggled to find words to encapsulate his achievements because they were simply too vast. Since then, he has added to his corpus with his series of Interventions, which have been published in many volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProfessor Soyinka is a colossus, a true Renaissance person blessed with innumerable talents. He is a playwright, actor, poet, human rights and political activist, composer, and singer. He is a giant bestriding not just the literary world but our nation, Africa, and the world. He remains the shining light of our nation, the gadfly that pokes our national soul, decrying tyranny and oppression, urging us to become better as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinubu recounted Soyinka\u2019s influence beyond Nigeria, highlighting his vocal criticism of oppression and injustice worldwide, from apartheid in South Africa to racism in the United States. \u201cHe is one Nigerian whose influence transcends the Nigerian space and who inspires people around the world. Since his youth, he has been a vocal critic of oppression and injustice wherever it exists, from apartheid in South Africa to racism in the United States. Soyinka always speaks truth to power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on Soyinka\u2019s bravery and commitment to Nigeria, Tinubu remembered, \u201cBeginning from his 20s, he took personal risks for the sake of our nation. His courage was evident when he attempted to broker peace at the start of the civil war in 1967. Detained for two years for his bravery, he narrated his experience in his prison memoir, \u2018The Man Died.\u2019 Despite deprivation and solitary confinement, his resolve to speak truth to power and fight for the marginalized was further strengthened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soyinka\u2019s early works, such as \u2018The Lion and the Jewel\u2019 and \u2018Death and the King\u2019s Horseman,\u2019 demonstrated his mastery of language and innovative storytelling, coupled with a steadfast commitment to justice. Tinubu also recalled their shared struggle for democracy, stating, \u201cOur paths crossed during our just struggle for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. When faced with a trial in absentia and death sentence by the military regime at home, he galvanized opposition in exile through NALICON and NADECO. His global stature made him the face of our struggle to validate June 12 and restore democracy in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Gabriella Ogbu The National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, has been renamed in honor of Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka by President Bola Tinubu. In a heartfelt letter personally signed and released to the media on the occasion of Soyinka’s 90th birthday, President Tinubu expressed profound admiration and recognition for Soyinka\u2019s contributions to literature […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":28710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38615,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38614\/revisions\/38615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}