President Bola Tinubu has renamed the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, as The Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts.
Tinubu took the decision to mark Soyinka’s 90th birthday, coming up on July 13, 2024.
Soyinka is a globally celebrated playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, actor, singer, composer and documentarian.
He is also a foremost advocate of good governance and a fair and just society.
He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986 – the first African to win the Prize in that category.
The Nobel Prize Laureate is a recipient of many other reputable awards, such as the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature; Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award; Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, (Lifetime Achievement); and the Europe Theatre Prize – (Special Prize).
In a statement by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, the President described Soyinka as one of the finest minds of his generation; conforming to the highest standards of human enlightenment, but unyielding to injustice, oppression and base impulses.
The President described Soyinka as one of Nigeria’s living repositories of history, knowledge, and courage, and commended him for his valiant efforts in the trenches for the nation’s future both as a pro-democracy champion and as a trenchant voice against corruption and maladministration over several decades.
“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,” the President said.