[ 2014-05-13 ]

Nigeria at the Edge of Precipice - Wole Soyinka
London, May 12, GNA - Nigeria's distinguished
author and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has
said Nigeria's biggest test as a nation space is
with the abduction of over 200 girls from the
northeastern part of the country and the security
lapses exposed by the incident.

Speaking at the University of Oxford and to the
media in London, Prof Soyinka said Nigeria would
be on the edge of becoming a hopeless nation if it
should fail this test.

Prof. Soyinka who spoke as guest lecturer of The
African Studies Centre to one of the biggest
audiences in recent times at the Shedonian Theatre
at the University, had as his topic:
'Literature, Life and 'Africa Magic' ' as part
of international activities to mark his 80th
birthday.

The gravity of the security implications both
locally and internationally, he argued, was the
biggest since the end of the country's civil war
in 1970. 'It did not begin with the emergence of
Boko Haram but something that has been built-up
over the years with some politicians and
legislators as supporters of religious
intolerance, ignoring warnings and evidence of
this mayhem'.

He paid tribute to some of his colleagues
including Ayi Kwei Armah (for the Beautyful Ones
Are Not Yet Born) and Chinua Achebe's (No Longer
at Ease) who were thought of as over-pessimists in
the 1960s and 70s when they raised issues of
leadership failure and its associated social
discontent.

The responding standing ovation to his
presentation was followed with the European launch
of the instant best-selling anthology, Essays in
Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80 edited by Ivor
Agyeman-Duah and Ogochukwu Promise, with a
foreword by the former Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku which book is
also published in Africa as Crucible of the
Ages-Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80.

The 350-page book, the most extensive and
diversified on Soyinka's career, has thirty
contributors including Nobel laureates Nadine
Gordimer, Toni Morrison and Derek Walcott; three
African leaders President John Mahama, former
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and scores of
distinguished writers and scholars including Ama
Ata Aidoo, Ngugi wa Thiong o', Sefi Atta, Ali
Mazrui, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates,
Jr., Toyin Falola, Nicholas Westcott, and
Atukwei Okai.

The lead editor, Agyeman-Duah in interviews in
London with the BBC's The Arts Hour Senior
Producer, Jenny Horrocks, Focus on Africa TV and
CNN reiterated that, 'The essays transcend the
personality of Soyinka as a prose master, language
analyst and dramatist. It delves into multiple
public policy implications of his work and
Africa's many challenges and promises which
have become a Crucible of the Ages.'

On July 8, a high-level African edition launch of
the book will be held at the State Banquet
Hall, Accra where the President of Rwanda, Paul
Kagame will speak on Africa and also launch the
book with President John Mahama as Guest of Honour
and Chief Emeka Anyaoku as chair.

The event, which will be with some of the BBC's
World Service arts programmes, will follow The
Lumina Foundation, Administrators of The Wole
Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa
announcement of the $20,000 bi-annual prize winner
in Lagos.

Instituted in 2005, the prestigious Prize was
first won by the novelist Sefi Atta (for her book,
Everything Good Will Come) who went on to win the
PEN and NOMA awards. The last recipient was the
South African author, Sifiso Mzobe for Young
Blood.

Source - GNA

... go Back