IBADAN – A literary icon, Prof. Femi Osofisan, on Tuesday described Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as a unique personality with immense intelligence.
Osofisan, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, was evaluating Soyinka’s contributions to literary production as he clocked 80 years on Sunday.
“It is quite unusual to find a person of immense intelligence like him. Of course, his prolific writings speak volume of him,” Osofisan said.
Also paying tributes, Dorothy Yahaya, a budding playwright, said the renowned writer used his talents to entertain people across the world.
“I particularly respect him for his use of language and ability to sustain his readers’ interest,” Yahaya stated.
[eap_ad_1]
Another young writer, Oluseyi Adedeji, decribed Soyinka as a freedom fighter.
“ He wrote many of his books to correct the social, political, economic and cultural vices in the society,” Adedeji said.
Muyiwa Jayeola, a theatre arts student at the University of Ibadan, said Soyinka remains an inspiration to the contemporary world.
“He is able to directly make us understand the writings of great philosophers in Europe using the stories of his own people,” Jayeola said.
Soyinka, who was born on July 13, 1934, at Ishara Ogun, is widely believed to be the father of African drama.
Soyinka became the most successful literary artist in Africa when he was declared the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. (NAN)
[eap_ad_4]
