Showing posts with label Soyinka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soyinka. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Soyinka Advises President Jonathan On National Dialogue, says 'Justice Is Never Siddon Look'



Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka has advised President Jonathan and the ruling elite to take into consideration some of the questions being raised about the National Dialogue exercise.

He spoke at a book launch in honour of the retiring President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami. The book a compendium of Salami’s judgments, is authored by Mrs. Funmi Quadri.
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Saturday, September 28, 2013

Prof. Wole Soyinka Escaped Death In Nairobi Kenya Mall Assault



But for a stroke of luck, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, would have been among the dead in the terror attack that took place at the Nairobi Westgate mall in Kenya last weekend.

Speaking at a press conference at the Freedom Park, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday in honour of the late Ghanaian poet, Professor Kofi Awoonor who died in the attack, Soyinka led a group of eminent Nigerian writers to condemn the Nairobi massacre. Soyinka, who said he, like Awoonor, was invited to the Storymoja/ Hay Literature Festival, said he couldn’t attend because of other pressing engagements he had elsewhere.

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Do You Think Wole Soyinka is Responsible For Chinua Achebe's Accident ? See The Facts



Professor Wole Soyinka has berated critics, who attributed the cause of late Chinua Achebe’s accident that eventually confined him to a wheel chairuntil he recently breathed his last, to the “spotless ram” he presented to him as a gift for his sixtieth birthday.
 
What actually happened? Why are people accusing Prof Soyinka? Details below:
Soyinka, in a release entitled “The Village Mourners Association,” lamented the reaction of a category of people he likened to “homicidal clerics,” whom he said began to spread the falsehood after Achebe’s burial.

According to Soyinka, it was wrong for people to situate the ram he graciously presented to a friend on his birthday, which he (Achebe) warmly received with a comment “Typical of Wole,” as the cause of Chinua Achebe’s motor accident. Soyinka tells his own story in the release.
 
Continue After The Break

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Achebe, no father of African literature — Soyinka




As celebrated author, Chinua Achebe’s final burial rites hold this week, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka in this exclusive interview with Sahara Reporters paid tribute to the famous author but says he(Achebe) is not the father of African literature. Soyinka, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize for literature, also spoke on his personal relationship with Achebe and other Nigerian writers; his regrets about Achebe’s last book, There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra; and his attempt to talk the late Biafran leader, Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, out of fighting a war
Do you recall where or how you first learned about the death of Professor Chinua Achebe? And what was your first reaction?

Where I heard the news? I was on the road between Abeokuta and Lagos. Who called first – BBC or a Nigerian journalist? Can’t recall now, since other calls followed fast and furious, while I was still trying to digest the news. My first reaction? Well, you know the boa constrictor – when it has just swallowed an abnormal morsel, it goes comatose, takes time off to digest. Today’s global media appears indifferent to such a natural entitlement. You are expected to supply that instant response. So, if – as was the case – my first response was to be stunned, that swiftly changed to anger.

Friday, March 29, 2013

''Nigeria On The Brink Of Another Civil War'' - Soyinka



Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday, warned that Nigeria was on the brink of another civil war and called for concerted actions to prevent the disaster.
Soyinka, who spoke at the 5th Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos, also chided President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to address the deteriorating level of insecurity in the country.
Themed: A national movement for change. A new generation speaks,” the colloquium was held at the MUSON Centre, Lagos.
He said: “Let us face it; this nation is on the brinks. Those who do understand it, I feel very sorry for them because they will one day wake up and find out that we have fallen as a nation. This is not what we envisaged when we struggled for independence. This is not what we envisaged when we struggled to overthrow military dictatorship and restore the rights and dignity of human beings. But whether we like it or not, it has come upon us.”

Friday, February 22, 2013

PHOTOS: Patience Jonathan And Protest Against Wole Soyinka Over N4bn Building Scandal



Some "Nigerian Women" rented by Nigeria's first lady and the minister of the FCT Bala Muhmammed were out early yesterday morning on the streets of Abuja for a "staged demonstration" in support of the minister's plan to build a N4 billion mission building for the first lady's pet project.
The women, youths and physically challenged protesters were all carrying placards supposedly written for them abusing Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka. Some of the placards read: "Educated illiterate", "Soyinka: Grammar King without sense", "Abuja has come to stay ".

ON POINT: Spiritual, Mental Slavery Still Exist In Nigeria —Soyinka





NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has observed that mental and spiritual slavery still exist in some parts of the world, including Nigeria, as some religious leaders are determined to enslave others rather than preach the gospel that appeal through the minds.
Soyinka made the observation in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Thursday, at the public presentation of a book ‘’He Dared: The story of Okuku Udo Akpabio, the Great Colonial African Ruler,” written by Offonmbuck Akpabio, held at the Le’Meridien Ibom Hotels and Golf Resort.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Prof. Wole Soyinka wins Awolowo Prize for Leadership




Culled From Vanguardngr

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Wednesday, emerged winner of the first Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership. Chairman of the selection committee, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who unveiled the recipient of the maiden award, yesterday in Lagos, said: “Nominees for the prize are expected to have demonstrated, to a substantial degree, the attributes considered to have characterised Chief Awolowo’s leadership style.
“They include integrity, credibility, discipline, courage, selflessness, accountability, tenacity of purpose, visionary and people-centred leadership, as well as respect for the rule of law and press freedom.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

How Artists and Intellectuals Can be Instrumental in the Creation of Dictators – Soyinka





Many Nigerians will agree that the last thing the country needs right now is another dictator. Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has shown how the making of dictators can be aided by artists and intellectuals who, he said, are custodians of the people’s culture. Soyinka was speaking at a colloquium, which is part of the 2012 Port Harcourt Carnival (CARNIRIV 2012) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He said every culture, if not guarded against abuse by politics, could breed dictatorship.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Boko Haram: Proposed Peace Talks Will Not Work – Soyinka



Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate and literary icon, Professor Wole Soyinka,  Thursday, said that the proposed peace talks between the Federal Government and extremist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, will not be successful. The Daily Post newspaper reports that Prof. Soyinka in a keynote address at the 2012 Annual Conference of a non-governmental organisation in Lagos, said that Boko Haram only believe in laying waste to the nation, adding that it is impossible to dialogue with a sect like that.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Religion Is Just A Spiritual Expression - Wole Soyinka




The Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, spoke this week at the Hay Festival in Mexico. In an extract from his talk, he tells Peter Godwin that now is the time to tackle militants in Nigeria.

Professor Soyinka, you’re not an ivory-tower kind of writer. You are not a stranger to danger, and in fact you’ve been imprisoned on at least two occasions, once in solitary confinement. Can you tell me what that was like?

Writing in certain environments carries with it an occupational risk. When I was imprisoned, without trial, it was as a result of a position I took as a citizen. Of course I used my weapon, which was writing, to express my disapproval of the [Biafran] civil war into which we were about to enter. These were people who’d been abused, who’d undergone genocide, and who felt completely rejected by the rest of the community, and therefore decided to break away and form a nation of

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