The Alake of Egba Land, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, has urged President Bola Tinubu to declare July 13 a national day in recognition of Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka’s contributions to humanity both nationally and globally.
In addition, Gbadebo called on the Federal Government to award Soyinka the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, as he celebrates his 90th birthday.
Egba Land has already decided to celebrate July 13, Soyinka’s birthday, as Wole Soyinka Day to promote his ideals and scholarship among future generations. Gbadebo emphasized that Soyinka, the first African Nobel Prize winner in Literature and a renowned international playwright, deserves such honors in his homeland.
The traditional ruler made this appeal during a press conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State, announcing events lined up for Soyinka’s 90th birthday. Gbadebo described Soyinka as a global icon, living legend, playwright, actor, human rights and political activist, hunter, and respected elder statesman with roots in Ake, Abeokuta.
He said that the theme for the 90th celebration of the Nobel Laureate fondly called, Kongi is “Defiance and Creativity: A Celebration of Soyinka’s Artistic Ingenuity and Impact on Nigeria, Africa and The Entire World”.
Gbadebo said, “It will be appropriate for the Federal Government to adopt July 13 as a national day to celebrate Prof Wole Soyinka given his contribution to literature and humanity globally.
“It will be good to henceforth adopt his birthday which is July 13 as Wole Soyinka Day. In fact, New Orleans in the United States of America has already adopted a day to celebrate him, so why can’t we do so to honour our own too?
“The Federal Government should also in addition to this confer on Wole Soyinka the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of Order of Niger because of his contribution to register our dear nation on the global map.”
The convener of Soyinka’s 90th birthday, Paul Bankole, said the essence of the celebration was to acknowledge Soyinka’s contributions both academically and to humanity as a whole.
Bankole said, “I believe that people like Prof Soyinka should be celebrated while they are alive.
“We must not wait till they are gone before we begin to pour accolades on them. Let them understand that we value them and acknowledge their unique contribution towards having a better world,”