- By Halimah Olamide
A day to his 90th birthday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday named the National Theatre, Iganmu Lagos after Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka.
Soyinka clocks 90 on Saturday July 13, 2024.
Tinubu, in a statement released on Friday, described Soyinka as a “colossus, a true Renaissance Man blessed with innumerable talents.”
Tinubu said, “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.” the president said
He said having beaten prostate cancer, Soyinka’s 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.
Naming the edifice after Soyinka, Tinubu said, “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.
“We do not only celebrate Soyinka’s remarkable literary achievements, but also his unwavering dedication to the values of human dignity and justice.”
Tinubu said when Soyinka turned 80, he struggled to find words to describe his achievements because “they were simply too vast. Since then, he has added to his corpus with his series of Interventions, published ni many volumes.”