- Talks About What He Found Out About Him
Without a doubt, one of the most popular and globally respected black men alive today, from this side of the planet, is the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. He is a man who has earned himself universal acclaim and reverence through his array of massive literary works that have brought him huge successes of phenomenal proportion. Professor Wole Soyinka, is loved not just by his Yoruba people from the south-west, but by the generality of Nigerians and indeed the world over. Unknown to many, especially, the younger generation, Professor Wole Soyinka, is a man of many parts. He is a literary giant. He is a playwright. He is an actor, and a prolific one at that. He is an activist, a social reformer who has gone head to head with several Nigerian rulers, both civilian and military, and ended up in jail a few times for his bravery and desire to see a better governed Nigeria where there will be justice and equality for all.
But one other part of this erudite scholar many may not be aware of is his spartan lifestyle. Professor Wole Soyinka, despite his humongous accomplishments and status as a Nobel Laureate, lives a very simple and strict lifestyle with no luxuries. He is not a man overly attracted to the many luxuries of life that many would give an arm and a leg to possess. Things like an unbelievably luxurious home, incredibly expensive automobiles, fancy clothes and designer shoes and wrist watches do not faze him one bit. He prefers to keep things simple. He loves to be in a place where he is surrounded by nature. He loves a home where he can feel nature and breathe nature. Put the Prof inside the most expensive 7 star hotel in Dubai and you’ll be surprised to find he’s eager to leave the hotel and head back to his modest apartment where he is surrounded by nature, taking in unpolluted air, enjoying peace and tranquility and hearing the birds hover above his roof top as they wake him up early in the morning singing and whistling. He’s a naturalist. He enjoys being engulfed by nature.
Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Governor of Ogun State, recently confirmed the spartan lifestyle of Professor Wole Soyinka. The former governor of Ogun State has revealed how the Nobel Laureate shocked him when he visited him at his Ijegba residence, in Abeokuta, Ogun State many years ago while he was the Executive Governor of the state.
Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who is currently the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, made this known while delivering the keynote address at an event the Isara community – where Soyinka hails from – organised to mark his 90th birthday and celebrate him. Soyinka, whose birthday is being celebrated across the globe, turned 90 on Saturday, 13 July, 2024.
The event tagged, “Celebrating our Illustrious Son, Prof. Wole Soyinka at 90, was held on Monday 15 July 2024 at Afotamodi Town Hall, Isara-Remo, in Ogun State. It was facilitated by BLDR Kunle Awobodu. In his speech, OGD, as he’s fondly and affectionately called by his teeming supporters and well wishers, was also the Chairman of the occasion. He said when he visited Professor Wole Soyinka and saw that he wasn’t using an air conditioner and the road leading to his residence wasn’t tarred, he volunteered to tar the road and fix an air conditioner in his house.
However, he was surprised when Professor Soyinka turned down his offer on the grounds that he preferred the road untarred. He also said he preferred getting fresh air to using an air conditioner. “Let me tell you another story, which would shock you. I went to visit Prof. in his house in Abeokuta. The road was not tarred, no air conditioner. Nothing. I said, ‘Prof, why don’t you put air conditioner? He said ‘I want fresh air’, adding that our fathers didn’t have air conditioners and they lived long.
“So, today that he is 90, I am not surprised. And I won’t be surprised if he still goes to 100, 120 years. “But the other thing is that I said, ‘Oga, let us come and tar this road for you. He said ‘Don’t tar the road.’ I said, ‘why?’ He said by the time you tar this road, vehicles would just be going up and down. It is the noise and pollution that I will be hearing and inhaling.
“And guess what? He said, “I enjoy killing Aparo (Guinea fowl). I aim my dane gun whenever I feel like eating Aparo and I shoot at the aparo. And I have food to eat. By the time you tar this place, vehicles would be going up and down, Aparo would not be available any longer.’
*That is Prof Wole Soyinka, the naturalist. I can go on and on and on,” Otunba Gbenga Daniel stressed.
Majority of the guests in attendance were stunned to hear this. Many would’ve appreciated the kind offer from the former governor to fix a couple of air conditioners in the house. Many would even have appreciated the offer by Otunba Gbenga Daniel to tar the road leading to the house of the Prof, but not Professor Wole Soyinka. He loves nature. He does not like to tamper with it. He does not like it when you try to alter nature to meet up with modern day lifestyle. To the outside world, he is the highly accomplished Nobel Laureate, but when he is at home all by himself, he is simply Wole Soyinka, the man who loves to live a simple lifestyle and stay as close as possible to nature.
– WALE LAWAL
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