90th Birthday: Tinubu names National Theatre after Wole Soyinka
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renamed the National Theatre in Lagos after Noble Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.
He announced this in a statement personally signed by him to mark the 90th birthday of Soyinka, entitled “PROFESSOR WOLE SOYINKA AT 90: TRIBUTE TO A NATIONAL TREASURE AND GLOBAL ICON”.
The statement reads: “I am pleased to join admirers around the world in celebrating the 90th birthday of Nigeria’s iconic son and the world-renowned Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde, famously known as Wole Soyinka.”
“Tomorrow the 13th July will be the climax of the series of local and international activities held in his honour. To underscore the global relevance of the literary giant, a symposium, along with poetry reading was held in Rabat Morocco on 9 July. The event was organized by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA).”
“Professor 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.”
“It 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.”
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“We do not only celebrate Soyinka’s remarkable literary achievements but also his unwavering dedication to the values of human dignity and justice.”
“When 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.”
“Professor 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.”
“He 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.”
“Beginning 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, “The Man Died.”
“Despite deprivation and solitary confinement, his resolve to speak truth to power and fight for the marginalised was further strengthened.”
“Our paths crossed during our struggle for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election,” says Tinubu.
Proofreading, editing by Sakinat Musa Abubakar and Jamila Yunusa Suleiman, Editor and Sub- editor at Neptune Prime
