President Bola Tinubu has renamed the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, as the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts.
The president’s action id to honor the renowned Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.
Tinubu honored Wole Soyinka’s 90th birthday by announcing the renaming of the National Theatre to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts.
The tribute dated “Professor Wole Soyinka at 90: Tribute to a national treasure and global icon,” was personally signed by the President and made available to journalists on Friday.
Tinubu has expressed his pleasure in joining the global community to celebrate the iconic Wole Soyinka, stating that July 13 will be the culmination of a series of local and international events and tributes honoring the Nobel laureate’s remarkable life and legacy.
Tinubu wrote, “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.”
Tinubu stated that Nigeria not only celebrates 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 best riding not just the literary world but our nation, Africa, and the world,” he averred.
President Tinubu praised Wole Soyinka as a Nigerian icon whose influence extends far beyond the nation’s borders, inspiring people globally with his courage and conviction. The President noted that throughout his life, Soyinka has consistently spoken out against oppression and injustice, whether it was apartheid in South Africa or racism in the United States.
“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,” Tinubu stated.