Tinubu Celebrates Soyinka at 90, Renames National Theatre in His Honour

By the time the drums and the chants go into a silent mode for the celebration of the birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel laureate in literature his name would be adorning some public structures in Lagos and Abuja. And that would be to mark his 90th birthday.
First, the Nobel laureate had had a road named after him in Abuja, the federal capital territory. Then, just as the curtains were being drawn on the celebrations, President Bola Tinubu announced yet another honour. This time a facility that Professor Soyinka had used several times to showcase his talents and do an unusual critic of governments, including that of the military. It is the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. The same facility that was a prime centre where Nigeria hosted the notable Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC ’77. Instead of National Theatre, it would now be known as the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts.
Soyinka is globally celebrated as a playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, actor, singer and composer. His works are critical of the government and the ills of the society. The Road, Trials of Brother Jero and Lion and the Jewel are representatives of his works that seek to draw attention to the challenges of change and development in the society.

Books like The Open Sore of a Continent, The Season of Anomy, Madmen and Specialists, The Swamp Dwellers, The Interpreters, A Play of Giants, King Baabu, and Kongi’s Harvest are satirical tales of dictators and their fellow travellers in the corridor of power in Africa. Known for being an advocate of good governance and of a fair and just society, Soyinka has a history of solitary confinement, a close shave with the law for allegedly swapping the tape of a head of government during the first republic and a period during which he almost got tracked down by the goons of the military during the heady days of the late dictator, General Sani Abacha.

He became the first African, the first black man, to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986.

In a release issued by Ajuri Ngelale, Senior Special Adviser to the president on Media, President Bola Tinubu described Soyinka as one of the finest minds of his generation, conforming to the highest standards of human enlightenment, but unyielding to injustice, oppression, and base impulses.

The president described him as one of Nigeria’s living repositories of history, knowledge, and courage. Recalling the times they spent together in exile, pushing for the end of military rule in Nigeria, Tinubu commended him for his valiant efforts in the trenches for the nation’s future both as a pro-democracy champion and as a trenchant voice against corruption and maladministration over several decades.

The president said, “Our paths crossed during our just struggle for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria following the annulment of 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.”

Tinubu believes that Soyinka deserves to be celebrated saying, “Today, I join the world to celebrate his profound influence on generations of writers, scholars, and activists who have been inspired by his work. I celebrate him for giving us the spark to fight and confront military dictators in our country.

“I am, accordingly, delighted to have the honour 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”.