Showing posts with label Soyinka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soyinka. Show all posts

Sunday, August 1, 2021

SOYINKA and the Quest for the Ori Olokun

 SOYINKA and the Quest for the Ori Olokun

The first African Nobel Laureate in Literature Prof. Wole Soyinka is 80 years old today, born on July 13, 1934. And the enigmatic and phenomenal genius is famous for his dare devil exploits including the one that landed him in jail. 

In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years after he secretly and unofficially met with the military governor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in the Southeastern town of Enugu (August 1967), to try to avert civil war. Go and read his "The Man Died" for his prison notes.

In 1978, Wole Soyinka was made aware of the existence of a bronze head in a private collection in Brazil – similar to the disputed one discovered by the famous German archaeologist Leo Frobenius (29 June 1873 – 9 August 1938) in 1910, which now stood in the Ife Museum, but of far greater quality. In his memoir "You Must Set Forth at Dawn" (2007), Soyinka recalls how, in a spirit of cultural duty, and with the knowledge of the Nigerian authorities, he mounted a kind of guerrilla raid with a group of friends, stealing the object from the apartment in question in near-farcical circumstances, and removing it to the Senegalese capital Dakar, where experts proclaimed it genuine. Suspicious, however, of the lightness of the object, Soyinka examined it further to find the letters “BM” stamped on the back: it was a British Museum replica, once sold in the museum’s shop. Soyinka then declared the British Museum’s head to be the real 'Ori Olokun", even though it was excavated 18 years after Frobenius’s original discovery.

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, aka Orikinla Osinachi, prize winning Nigerian writer since age 13, author of Children of Heaven, Sleepless Night, Scarlet Tears of London, Bye, Bye Mugabe (now being revised with the new title of Bye, Bye Zimbabwe and other books.

Friday, July 23, 2021

Yorùbá Ronu, Yorùbá Párápọ́ Yorùbá United

 #sundayigboho

#yorubas

#Yoruba

#yorubanation

#Nigeria

@officialbolatinubu

@profosinbajo

@thesamadeyemi

Yorùbá Ronu, Yorùbá Párápọ́

Yorùbá United

Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Thursday formed a committee to look into the Sunday Igboho situation.


The 28-member think tank comprises prominent individuals from the South-West.


They will monitor Igboho’s arraignment in Benin Republic, the moves to extradite him to Nigeria and likely prosecution.


DAILY POST gathered that a plan of action is being mapped out.


The team is expected to provide updates to the Ooni as events unfold, offer counsels, mediate with the Yoruba Nation agitator’s legal team and interface with Nigerian and Beninese authorities.

The full list below:

1. Olugbon of Igbon, Oba Olusola Alao

2. Senator Biodun Olujimi

3. Toyin Saraki

4. Segun Awolowo

5. Doyin Okupe

6. Otunba Gbenga Daniel

7. Prince Oye Oyewumi

8. Muyiwa Ige

9. General Olu Okunnowo

10. DIG Taiwo Lakanu (rtd)

11. Sola Ebiseni, Afenifere Secretary

12. Jimi Agbaje

13. Sola Lawal

14. Debola Oluwagbayi

15. Dupe Adelaja

16. Dele Momodu

17. Senator Tolu Odebiyi

18. Dr. Olusegun Mimiko

19. Dr. Seun Obasanjo

20. Makin Soyinka

21. Dele Adesina (SAN)

22. AIG Tunji Alapinni (rtd.)

23. Reuben Abati

24. Eniola Bello

25. Bimbo Ashiru

26. Senator Tokunbo Ogunbanjo

27. Dapo Adelegan

28. Professor Akin Osuntokun

PS:

I Orikinla Totally Support The Resolution To Defend And Protect Yoruba Land From #Bandits And #Terrorists Trespassing On Yoruba Land And Killing Yoruba People.

@usinnigeria

@statedept


Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Prof. Wole Soyinka's Most Anticipated New Novel, "Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth"

WeREAD💕💋 NEW BOOK OF THE MONTH

"Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth" by Prof. Wole Soyinka, the first black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

https://bookshop.org/shop/Weread

The Book

The novel tells the story of a pact and an alliance formed between four friends, to make an impactful change in their nation. Now in the late stages of adulthood, against an evolving political landscape and a change of government, they drift apart, reunite, navigate complex familial relationships, and increasingly gain recognition in their professions — all the while, their paths interweave with those of prominent religious, community and government leaders, and the tide begins to turn against them, with dire consequences.

It is a dramatic and engaging read, laced with humour and extraordinary characters. The read also provides a realistic perspective on the state of affairs in Nigeria, with a depth of commentary. In Soyinka’s expert hands, the apparently disparate strands are woven together with a master story-teller’s aplomb. 

CHRONICLES OF THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH, is a great and unputdownable read from start to finish.

Book Size: 6.1 inches x 9.2 inches (15.5 x 23.5cm)

Number of pages: 524 pages.




Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Presents Leadership Awards to Soyinka, Payne, Ezekwesili, and Whitaker

30 Jun 2009 15:53 Africa/Lagos

Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Presents Leadership Awards to Soyinka, Payne, Ezekwesili, and Whitaker

WASHINGTON, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF), on June 24, 2009, honored four distinguished leaders for their commitment to sustainable development through education at an inaugural gala event in New York City. Honorees included Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, World Bank Vice President for Africa Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Congressman Donald M. Payne (D-NJ), and Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of The Whitaker Group.


The event was attended by a distinguished audience of African Diplomats, the Nigerian Diaspora community and leaders of US Foundations, businesses and institutions committed to Nigeria's development.


"I was deeply honored to be recognized in this way by the NHEF," says Ms. Whitaker, who received the Business Leadership Award. "Knowledge is power and education is key to economic development. Indeed, we need only look at Southeast Asia to see how the availability of higher education can benefit a nation's economy." Accepting the Leadership in Education Award, former Nigerian Education Minister Dr. Oby Ezekwesili asserted, "We can't sit back and watch the intellectual capital of Africa, especially of Nigeria, to be denigrated; we must reconnect all the brain power in this room back to Nigeria.... It is in the context of intellectual capital that development happens."


The NHEF, launched in 2004 with support from the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-governmental organization that seeks to enhance the quality of education in Nigeria through direct support for five universities: Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria; Bayero University in Kano; University of Ibadan; University of Nigeria Nsukka; and University of Port Harcourt.


Source: The Whitaker Group

CONTACT: Meg Dallett of The Whitaker Group, +1-202-293-1453,
margaret@thewhitakergroup.us


Releases displayed in Africa/Lagos time
1 Jul 2009
09:00
Power Rental in Africa to Double by 2014, Reveals Frost & Sullivan
30 Jun 2009
15:53
Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Presents Leadership Awards to Soyinka, Payne, Ezekwesili, and Whitaker
15:00
MacArthur to Support Master's Programs Around the World Offering Professional Training for Future Sustainable Development Leaders
29 Jun 2009
22:00
Obama Rockets to Top of Poll on Global Leaders
16:29
Midbrook Partners With SupplyCore Middle East to Provide Water Bottling and Medical Decontamination Equipment to the Middle East and North Africa