Soyinka thrives on controversy – Razinat quotes Niyi Osundare

…cites Soyinka’s beef with Obidients

By Osa Mbonu-Amadi, Arts Editor

Award-winning Nigerian author of A Love like a Woman’s and other Stories, Dr. Razinat T. Mohammed, has described Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka who turned 90 on Saturday, July 13, 2024, as one who thrives on controversy.Dr. Razinat’s assessment of Soyinka was contained in her lecture titled “The Man Wole Soyinka: A Deification”, which she delivered during the Wole Soyinka @ 90 International Symposium held at J. F. Ajayi Auditorium, University of Lagos on Thursday, 11th July 2024.

Quoting Prof Niyi Osundare’s Wole Soyinka and the Public Space in The Soyinka Impulse: Essays on Wole Soyinka, a book edited by Oni Duro and Bisi Adigun, and published by Bookcraft, Ibadan in 2019, Dr. Razinat said:

“Due to his numerous interventions as literary artist and human right activist, Soyinka has stepped on toes and crossed path with death, but in spite of all the dangers set on his path, there is no stopping him. And because he is unstoppable in his quest to attain good governance and justice for all, he is frequently embattled and as I quote from Osundare again, “Soyinka thrives on controversy; he is our county’s [sic] prince of polemics; the enterprising merchant in our marketplace of ideas”.

To drive home her point, Dr. Razinat cited Soyinka’s running battle with millions of supporters of Mr. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 election, called Obidients. She said: “In this regard, it is important to state that Soyinka is also frequently misunderstood as in the recent ‘Obidient’ controversy.

“In his pursuit for good governance, his weapons have been his caustic pen and sonorous voice which when misconstrued by overzealous persons, meanings other than the intended spread like wild fire. In spite of all challenges, he has remained true to his passions over the years and maintained his artistic voices as well as continued to run commentary on matters of national interest,” Dr. Razinat said.

Zeroing in on the theme of the symposium, “Eni Ogun: an Enduring Legacy” Dr. Razinat Mohammed said “Wole Soyinka is passionate for literature as he is passionate for his society for what is literature without society. He is therefore able to remain loyal to both passions and as James Gibbs states, he is Nigeria’s “unofficial ombudsman” because he is never tired of lending his voice to any issue that is of national interest or has to do with good governance and nation building.”

Quoting Osundare again, Dr. Razinat described Soyinka as “cynosure of the media/public eye…. “He (Soyinka) is aware that his voice is far-reaching and as Niyi Osundare succinctly puts it, Soyinka is like the “cynosure of the media/public eye…this town crier and prophet has prodded, provoked, unbraided, cajoled, informed, edified, entertained and humanized us. His is the kind of voice which tries to inoculate us against ‘the complicit tolerance of silence.”In other words, Soyinka is worried by the general silence and acceptance of bad governance by his countrymen and women. In this perception, I see an incredibly striking resemblance between him and late Egyptian writer, Nawal El-Saadawi. The overwhelming resemblance is not only in their fluffy white hair signatures but in their passion and drive for a better society.”“It is therefore, not for nothing that Soyinka is called the “Conscience of the Continent,” Dr. Razinat said. “He operates like an NGO that has no business location or financier. Biodun Jeyifo refers to him as a “literary duelist” and “combatant” that is “without equal in modern African literature.” These different accounts speak about Soyinka’s passionate engagements with both literature and the afflictions of his country and of the world.”

Dr. Razinat also described Soyinka as “a patriot whose numerous clashes with government do not deter from composing a love song for his country: “I love my Country; I no go lie.” His admirers have come to accept the fact that he is a man driven by an acute urgency to be heard whether in the primacy of his professional voice or through the informal space which like the formal has brought him great recognition as a public opinion leader of matters affecting people not only in his country but across the globe.

The lecturer alluded to Soyinka’s ability to create plays on the spur of the moment: “People who have associated closely with Soyinka have written about his impulses and reactions to issues of both personal and national development. He is said to have on many instances, created and produced plays by merely taking a glance at the location and people around.

“Gibbs recounts how the master playwright had at the closing of a workshop at the Ranche House-College in Harare “…intervened on the spur of the moment, introducing a fascinating improvised, unrehearsed ‘exchange’.” Such brilliance that many have equally attested to can only be executed by someone who is without doubt, a passionate genius that has been described (by Osundare) as “…a moving theatre, a mobile brain bank, an astonishing combination of sense and spectacle.”Dr. Razinat also connected Soyinka’s impulse with his armed robbery charge for breaking into the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation studio in Ibadan in 1965 at gunpoint: “It is without doubt that such impulses had led him to courageously take hostage of a radio station or say what most people would consider unsayable for fear of arrest or assassination especially, during the military era. He is ever ready to speak the truth to power and possesses the temerity to face the consequences of his actions.

“Wole Soyinka’s genius as a literary icon goes beyond the courage to create prophetic and legendary works but he is said to have given lexicographers a run on their task because he is a Neologist who very easily creates new words in English and I am sure in French as well. Osundare refers to him as “an inveterate name-caller” while Jeyifo stresses on Soyinka’s “love of punning and use of deflationary wordplay” as abilities that come to him effortlessly, having himself been a victim of Soyinka’s coinage of the word “Leftocracy” and other big English word usages that only our own WS can pull off.

“Soyinka has lived a long and fruitful life in his global service to humanity, whether through his writing or humanitarian interventions as overly stated. We are witnesses to his literary successes and the great recognition and respect they have brought to Nigeria and the black race. As a humanist, he is affected by the protracted conflicts in many parts of the world but most especially, on his continent, Africa. He is very concerned about the conflicts in the Sudan as much as that of the Boko Haram in the North East of Nigeria. And as a result of his genuine concern for the world, he received the International Humanist Award in 2014. In this regard, Celucien L. Joseph affirms that Wole Soyinka is not only known internationally as a writer, but also as “… a humanist, a protagonist of human rights, and a champion of human dignity.”

The event was attended by very important personalities including former governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi and his wife, Dr Bisi Fayemi; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola; former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Duro Oni; President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Prof. Sola Akinrinade; and the Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Letters, Prof. Olakunbi Olasope.

The theme of the symposium was “Eni Ogun: An Enduring Legacy”. Emeritus Professor at the University of Orleans, Prof Niyi Osundare, delivered the keynote address.