President Bola Tinubu has renamed the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos as Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts.
Tinubu announced this on Friday in his birthday message to the nobel laureate as he marks his 90th birthday.
He said, “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.
“We do not only celebrate Soyinka’s remarkable literary achievements but also his unwavering dedication to the values of human dignity and justice”, he said.
President Tinubu further added that “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, bestriding not just the literary world but our nation, Africa, and the world.
“He remains the shining light of our nation, the gadfly that pokes our national soul, decrying tyranny and oppression, urging us to become better as a nation.
“He is one Nigerian whose influence transcends the Nigerian space and who inspires people around the world”, he said.
President Tinubu said, Soyinka always speaks truth to power, noting that despite deprivation and solitary confinement, his resolve to speak truth to power and fight for the marginalized was further strengthened.
He wished Professor Soyinka an incredibly happy 90th birthday.
“May he continue in good health to find creative fulfilment in the next decade leading up to his centennial.
“May he continue to inspire us all to build a nation where people are free from oppression and our teeming youths can live up to their dreams without being a wasted generation”, the President wrote.
