Ogun monarch declares July 13 Wole Soyinka Day

• New documentary premieres for Soyinka @ 90

Ahead of the 90th birthday celebration of Nigeria’s first and only Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, yesterday, declared that Egbaland would henceforth, celebrate every July 13, which is the birthday of the Nobel laureate, as Wole Soyinka Day. 
   
He, therefore, called on President Bola Tinubu to declare July 13 a national day dedicated to celebrating the contributions of Soyinka to humanity, both nationally and globally.
   
Gbadebo also said that the Federal Government should honour Soyinka with the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of Order of Niger (GCON). This, he said was to further promote his ideals and excellent scholarship disposition in the coming generation.
   
The monarch said that Soyinka, being the first African Nobel Prize winner in Literature and an international playwright who is wanted in every part of the world, deserves to be so honoured at home.
   
He made the call on Tuesday, in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, to herald a series of events lined up to mark Soyinka’s 90th birthday. He described Soyinka as a global icon, a living legend, a playwright, actor, human rights and political activist, a hunter and a globally respected elder statesman with roots in Ake, Abeokuta.
   
This, he said was why Egbaland is rolling out the drums to celebrate the honour and glamour the famous poet has brought to his kith and kins in Ogun State.
   
The theme for the 90th celebration of the Nobel Laureate fondly called Kongi is “Defiance and Creativity: A Celebration of Soyinka’s Artistic Ingenuity and Impact on Nigeria, Africa and The Entire World”.
   
Gbadebo said: “It will be good to henceforth adopt his birthday which is July 13 as Wole Soyinka Day. In fact, New Orleans in the United States of America has already adopted a day to celebrate him, so why can’t we do so to honour our own too?”
   
The convener of Soyinka’s 90th birthday, Paul Bankole, said the essence of the celebration was to acknowledge Soyinka’s contributions both academically and to humanity as a whole.
   
Bankole said, “I believe that people like Prof Soyinka should be celebrated while they are alive. We must not wait till they are gone before we begin to pour accolades on them.”
   
Also, as part of activities lined up to celebrate Soyinka, a documentary titled: ‘Ebrohimie Road: A Museum of Memory’ is set to be premiered.

The documentary, based on the little building on the University of Ibadan campus, where the poet, playwright, memoirist, essayist and polemicist, Soyinka lived while he was a teacher at the premier tertiary institution, is billed to debut in July.
   
It was the same bungalow located a few meters from the bustling main gate of the university campus, where Soyinka was arrested in 1967 on “espionage” charges for daring to cross to the Biafra Republic to dissuade then Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, leader of the secessionist group from going to war with the government of Nigeria. This would lead to his incarceration for 29 months by the Nigerian government led by Lt. General Yakubu Gowon.
   
Soyinka was however released in October 1969, a few weeks before the war ended in 1970. Even though he returned to the house, he did not return to his job at the Department of Theatre Arts, rather, he proceeded on exile in 1971.
   
Slated as part of activities commemorating the 90th birthday (July 13) Soyinka’s anniversary, the 110-minute documentary written and directed by writer, culture researcher Kola Tubosun, with ace cinematographer Tunde Kelani, behind the camera, will first be screened on July 11, 2024 at the University of Lagos. It will feature as the third item in a full-day scholarly event jointly organised by the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange, WSICE, and the Nigeria Academy of Letter, NAL. The theme of the event is ENI-OGUN: An Enduring Legacy, and it will, aside the screening, feature a symposium, a dance performance and a reception.