Alake of Egba land Oba Adedotun Gbadebo on Tuesday called on the Nigerian government to declare July 13 a national day to celebrate Noble Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka.
Soyinka turns 90 on July 13, 2024.
At a press conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, to begin events lined up for Soyinka’s birthday, the monarch said Egba land has already decided that July 13 would henceforth be celebrated as Wole Soyinka Day.
Oba Gbadebo also said the Federal Government should honour Soyinka with the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of Order of Niger.
The monarch said that Soyinka, being the first African Nobel Prize winner in literature and an international playwright who is wanted in every part of the world, deserves to be so honoured back home.
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.
