Gbenro Adesina
Nigerians took to social media en masse to celebrate one of the world literary icons, erudite scholar, an activist and author, Professor Wole Soyinka, who clocked 86 on Monday July 13, 2020. The social media is awash with congratulatory messages succinctly imbued with the sterling qualities of the Ake-Abeokuta born creative writer. The Ogun people, particularly, the Egbas minced no words in courageously telling the world that Soyinka originated from Egbaland.
For the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Soyinka transcends Egbaland because he belong not only to Nigeria, but to Africa, the black world, as he said, “On July 13, 1934, the heavens bestowed on Ogun State, Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the rarest breed of human kind”.
According to him, Soyinka conquered the world as a playwright, poet, essayist, public intellectual. Apart from being the conscience of the Nigerian nation at a tender age. he became the symbol of the soft power on the global stage.
“At 86, all we can do as mere mortals is to celebrate the life of an enigma, whose kind only Ogun State has the honour of laying claim to”, he concluded.
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who described the celebrant as Africa’s most iconic literary maestro, public moral giant, one of the world’s most influential citizens, noted that Soyinka is a mentor, a role model and a thought-leader with whom he has had the rare privilege of sharing a great moment of significant historic importance in his life.
He said, “There is no doubt that I have always shared an ecumenical ideology and kindred spirit with Kongi. His natural spur to resist oppression, instinctive spontaneity to defy authoritarianism and his impregnable commitment to civil liberty makes him my natural ideological mentor. In both the youthful and sagely Soyinka, has been a consistent resurgence against brutality and inordinate absolutism. As he often opines, “justice is the first condition of humanity”. His resentment against state terror and abuse of power burns like the inferno of the mythical hade”.
According to him, Soyinka, whose temperament rejects every iota of practices that suborn human happiness and classical in all aspects of his artistry, is a patriot, who has used his innate talent to serve humanity at every opportunity, adding, “Soyinka is impatient with the loud silence that punctuates clear cases that should strike a thunder of a mass anger”.
While Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi described the literary icon as a rare gem and a blessing to our world, who continue to live well and healthy, the Publisher of Oviation, Dele Momodu pointed out that Soyinka has been the biggest and greatest influence on his love of literature and writing.
Senior Lecturer in Strategy, Nottingham Business School and founder of BTDT Hub, a Human Capital Development Company and BTDT Home Tutors, a tutoring agency, Dr Dipo Awojide, simply wrote, “Happy birthday Professor Wole Soyinka, Nigeria’s greatest playwright, poet, essayist, Nobel Prize winner and an African icon”.
An activist and Publisher of online SaharaReporter, Omoyele Sowore wished the celebrant the best.
