.Prof Wole Soyinka flanked by family and former students during the cutting of the birthday cake.jpg
By Nehru Odeh
With a sense of humour, Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has revealed that his former students at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) played a birthday prank on him.
Soyinka jokingly made this statement in Abeokuta Ogun State on Sunday, August 4, 2024, when former students of the Department of Dramatic Arts, University of Ife, whom he taught in the 70s and 80s celebrated him in a grand style to mark his 90th birthday.
Under the aegis of Ife Caucus for Kongi at 90, the students used the occasion to eulogise him for impacting their lives positively as a teacher, mentor and role model. The event, anchored by popular actor Yemi Sodimu, was tagged “Celebrating a global literary icon, our teacher and mentor – Eni Ogun.”
“I have heard about writers’ prank. But this is the first time I have experienced a birthday prank,” Soyinka, said beaming with smiles, elated at the grand way his former students celebrated him.
Former students rendering a song.jpg
However, the Nobel Laureate who started his brief speech chanting the slogan “Great Ife” thrice, used the opportunity to thank his former students effusively for organizing the event and also for contributing to the greatness of Ife, which, according to him, is one of the most beautiful campuses anywhere in the world.
“Thank you very much for this get-together. I appreciate you. I have a message for all of you from my wife who unfortunately cannot be here. She’s being detained for health reasons in the United States. I was with her just a few days ago. And she insisted that this must go ahead, especially after two postponements. Greetings from her. She is doing well. How she managed to stand out among the members of that gender in Ife to be captured, I had no idea. But I am grateful that I met her. And thank you once again to all of you, ” Soyinka said.
Prof Wole Soyinka on the red carpet.jpg
It was indeed an afternoon of memories, of music, of dance and laughter. Not only did a live band serenade the guests with a string of folkloric music back to back, but the organizers acted an excerpt from Soyinka’s play, “Jero’s Metamorphosis.”
“Ife Caucus for Kongi at 90 started as a caucus of his old students to celebrate him at 90. But beyond that now, it is like a reunion and we intend to take it further from there.
“So, what we have done this time around, we invited other old students of the department that were not necessarily there when Soyinka was there. So, we have co-opted them so that from there we can do things together to grow our department, ” Mrs Kemi Koyejo, one of the organizers maintained
Prof Wole Soyinka and his sister Prof. Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka.
Mr Tunji Akintoye went down memory lane to narrate his several encounters with the Nobel Laureate, encounters which he still cherishes to date
“I remember vividly when there was going to be the release of Soyinka’s music ‘I Love My Country I No Go Lie.’ Prof called a short meeting at the Pit Theatre, where he gave us a sneak preview of that release. I was not supposed to be there. I don’t know how I got to be there. But that was where I heard the song personally before it went viral.
“Many of us will always talk about the fact that even though we never had one-on-one contact with him, as it were as our lecturer, we still draw a lot of strength from that leadership.
“On a personal note, I wanted to write a play entitled ‘The Man Died’ when I was in Form Five. And somebody now told me that Prof had written that book with the same title. So, I wrote a letter to him requesting to use the title. Prof wrote back. He said, ‘You have my permission to use the title. I treasured that letter for a long time.
“So Prof, you remain great. And I had the privilege last year to interview you in Abeokuta. I still treasure your intelligence. I treasure your ability to enunciate your facts. I still treasure your strength. I don’t know where you got it from. But wherever you got it from, it is very good, ” Mr Akintoye opined.
Prof. Wole Soyinka and former students.
Mr Edmond Enaibe, a Veteran Nollywood actor, recounted how he first encountered Soyinka through his memoir ‘The Man Died’ and how he later went on to shape his life as his lecturer at Ife.
“The journey started in 1973. I was in Class Three in secondary school. And I went to a bookshop where I saw the title ‘The Man Died.’ I was mesmerized by that book. But I couldn’t go beyond page three. Then five years later in 1978, we were privileged to be the first set of students who came through JAMB. Then we got to the department. And we encountered the phenomenon called Wole Soyinka in his open jeep. He drove from the Pit Theatre and stopped at the Car park. And everybody was looking. That was in October/November 1978. Like Zombies, we were looking at him walk into his office.
“However, the story is by the time we got to final year, we had become students who could think for themselves, who could influence society because the style that Kongi brought to lecturing was such that you stand and think for yourself.
Mrs Kemi Koyejo delivering her speech.jpg
Prof Sola Fosudo, academic and actor for his part, as the saying goes, used a stone to kill two birds as his speech was both an appreciation and apology. He appreciated Soyinka for making him a theatre director.
“The first is to express my appreciation. The second is to express my apology. The appreciation is this. I went to Ife for a one-year certificate programme in Dramatic Arts. After the one-year programme, four of us were retained to work at Ife. And barely six months into working with a professional theatre company, Prof. Soyinka sent for the four of us. At the time, if you had that Soyinka was calling you, you would be wondering what you have done.
“Anyway, we went to Prof. And surprisingly, he said ‘Well you don’t have to wait for senior members of the company to pick up plays to direct. You can pick one-act plays or short plays. Just bring them forward and get approval to stage them.’
“I took up the challenge of that charge. I picked a play and directed it. And that play was used for the orientation for that year at the University of Ife. I didn’t know that I was so creative that they made me a director. So, the point is that Prof Soyinka made me become a theatre director. It was wonderful, sir, that you gave us that charge. And today I am trying my best directing plays, “Prof Fosudo said.
Members of Ife Caucus for Kongi at 90.
Mrs Kemi Koyejo, who was also full of appreciation for the distinguished writer, said with a sense of humour that she was Soyinka’s last daughter because she was his last student at Ife. She also expressed her appreciation to Soyinka for defending her when she ran into trouble for specializing in two courses at the same time while she was a student of Dramatic Arts at Ife.
“I make bold to say that I am Prof’s last born because I was his last student at the University of Ife. Prof gave me boldness and taught me to be independent
“Soyinka is larger than life, a global icon. There is no gainsaying the fact. And people like that don’t come too often, maybe one in a century. And you can see that he is highly gifted. Even at 90, with so much energy. He has helped a lot of us from Ife, ” Koyejo reminisced.
Mahmood Ali-Balogun, the notable filmmaker, also eulogized Soyinka for being a national and global icon, adding that it was instructive that at 90 “he is as fit as fiddle. “It’s not every time that we have a global icon, ” he enthused.
“We felt there is a need for us to do something for someone who affected our lives as students, as a role model and as a mentor, ” Alli-Balogun maintained.
However, the high point of the event came during the cutting of the birthday cake. During that special occasion, Soyinka who had walked up to the stage to cut the birthday cake, flanked by his son Dr Olaokun Soyinka, his sister Professor Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka and former students, expressed his appreciation to the organizers of the event. And that special occasion signalled an end to that grand event that was spiced up with memories, nostalgia and plenty of laughter.
