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Prof. Wole Soyinka|Biography, Age, Children, Family, House

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Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as ⭐Wole Soyinka⭐, is a Nigerian playwright, essayist, poet, teacher, and political activist. He is the first African recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1986. His extensive insights and contributions to political matters in his home country, Nigeria has garnered him accolades and praise over the years. Here are some interesting things about him.

Prof. Wole Soyinka’s Biography, Age

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka was born on the 13th of July, 1934 at Abeokuta, near Ibadan in western Nigeria. Wole’s father, Samuel Ayodele Soyinka, was a prominent Anglican minister and headmaster, while his mother, Grace Eniola Soyinka, was a shopkeeper and local activist. As a child, he lived in an Anglican mission compound, learning the Christian teachings of his parents, as well as the Yoruba spiritualism and tribal customs of his grandfather.

He attended Government College in Ibadan before moving to England to continue his education at the University of Leeds. Soyinka graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 1958 and the university awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1972. During his time in England, he was a dramaturgist at the Royal Court Theatre in London. He was awarded a Rockefeller bursary and returned to Nigeria to study African drama.

On his return to Nigeria, he taught drama and literature at various universities in Ibadan, Lagos, and Ife, where, since 1975, he has been a professor of comparative literature. In 1960, he founded the theatre group, “The 1960 Masks” and in 1964, the “Orisun Theatre Company”, in which he has produced his own plays and taken part as an actor. He has periodically been a visiting professor at the universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, and Yale.

Literary Works

Prof. Wole Soyinka has published hundreds of works. He writes in English and his literary language is marked by great scope and richness of words. Soyinka’s first important play was titled, A Dance of the Forests. It satirized the Nigerian political elite.

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Plays

Prof. Wole Soyinka is said to be heavily influenced by the Irish writer, J.M. Synge, among many others. He links up with the traditional popular African theatre with its combination of dance, music, and acting.

He bases his writing on the mythology of his own tribe-the Yoruba-with Ogun, the god of iron and war, at the center. He wrote his first plays during his time in London, The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel (a light comedy), which were performed in Ibadan.

His later, satirical comedies are The Trial of Brother Jero with its sequel, Jero’s MetamorphosisA Dance of the Forests among many others. His serious philosophic plays are The Strong Breed, The Road and Death and the King’s Horseman. In The Bacchae of Euripid, he has rewritten the Bacchae for the African stage and in Opera Wonyosi, bases himself on John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera and Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera. Soyinka’s latest dramatic works are A Play of Giants and Requiem for a Futurologist.

Poems

Soyinka’s poems, which show a close connection to his plays include Idanre, Poems from Prison, A Shuttle in the Crypt, the long poem Ogun AbibimanMandela’s Earth and Other Poems.

Novels

Soyinka has written two novels, The Interpreters and Season of Anomy. Purely autobiographical are The Man Died: Prison Notes and the account of his childhood, Aké, in which a parents’ warmth and interest in their son is prominent.

Nobel Peace Prize/Political Activism

Prof Wole Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. His Nobel acceptance speech, “This Past Must Address Its Present”, was devoted to South African freedom-fighter Nelson Mandela. Soyinka’s speech was an outspoken criticism of apartheid and the politics of racial segregation imposed on the majority by the Nationalist South African government.

During the civil war in Nigeria, Soyinka appealed in an article for a cease-fire. For this, he was arrested, accused of conspiring with the Biafran rebels, and was held as a political prisoner for 22 months.

Now considered Nigeria’s foremost man of letters, Wole Soyinka is still politically active and spent the 2015 election day in Africa’s biggest democracy working the phones to monitor reports of voting irregularities, technical issues, and violence.

After the election on March 28, 2015, he said that Nigerians must show a Nelson Mandela–like ability to forgive president-elect Muhammadu Buhari’s past as an iron-fisted military ruler.

Family And Children

Wole Soyinka first got married in 1958 to the late British multicultural educationist, “Barbara Dixon.” They had one son “Olaokun Soyinka” together. After Barbara’s death, Wole remarried in 1963 to Nigerian librarian, Olaide Idowu and the third, in the year 1989 to Folake Doherty.

In total Wole Soyinka has five children consisting of three daughters and two sons; the daughters are; Peyibomi Soyinka Airewele, Moremi Soyinka Onijala, Iyatade Apampa, and sons; Olaokun Soyinka, Makin Soyinka.

House

Kola Tubosun Writes About Wole Soyinka's Art-Filled House in ...
Source – Wole Soyinka Foundation

One would think a man of Professor Wole Soyinka’s status would own an exquisite home in high-end locations in Nigeria.

Home Vision + Campaigns — The Wole Soyinka Foundation
Source – Wole Soyinka Foundation

His home is located in a thick forest in Abeokuta, Ogun State. However, the home is an ancient architectural masterpiece to behold.

Inside Wole Soyinka's Abeokuta Forest House | DECORHUBNG
Source – Wole Soyinka Foundation

The building also has an amphitheater for drama rehearsals and performances, shooting range that provides a bird’s eye view of a section of the path that leads to the house, hidden reading rooms

Prof. Wole Soyinka Biography, Age, Children, Family, House
Source – Wole Soyinka Foundation

(there are reading spaces everywhere) and a special prayer room for Christians, Muslims, and traditionalists – To Soyinka, there is room for all religions to co-exist.

Politics

[Video] Tompolo makes first public appearance after six years

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https://www.instagram.com/p/CGoRBy8B2s9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Who is Tompolo?

Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo was a commander in various guerrilla groups in the Niger Delta which were all agitating against the insensitivity of the Federal Government and the international oil companies towards to exploitation and degradation of the Niger Delta. Ekpemupolo’s wealth, derived mainly from oil bunkering, played a major role in founding both MEND and also his own fighters (Wikipedia).

Tompolo, who led the disbanded Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), was nowhere to be found immediately after President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in in 2015 as the Federal Government sent troops to get him apprehended.

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The government as published by the Nation Newspaper also declared him wanted through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for ignoring two bench warrants issued against him by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos following an alleged N45.5bn fraud case.

But the court on July 15, 2019, dismissed all the charges against Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, a company linked to the former Niger Delta militant leader.

Despite the judgment, Tompolo failed to appear in public until October 19, 2020, when sources said he made a sudden appearance at the Egbesu Shrine in his Oporoza country home in Gbaramatu, Delta State, the Nation Newspaper reported.

His First Public Appearance after six years

Picture and video of his appearance showed the former warlord and his friends dancing, worshipping, and offering Thanksgiving to Egbesu, Ijaw god.

An Egbesu disciple, Bodmas Kemepadei, who confirmed the development, said the appearance of Tompolo, who is the Egbesu Priest, would help to facilitate resolutions of knotty issues in the Niger Delta region.

He said: “As Tompolo disciples and proponents of the Ijaw cause, this celebration to our National God Egbesu, is not just about the vindication and freedom of Tompolo, it is about the military invasion and burning of our communities without any provocation.

“It is about the IOCs that have refused to relocate to the region even after a presidential directive, it is about our people having a fair share of our natural resources, it is about freedom from these Federal Government promoted ailments that our people suffer from.

“We celebrate Tompolo with confidence that these issues will be addressed, we celebrate with our spirits high knowing that the time for resource control is now, let this be a message to all our brothers in struggle, the days of arms are over, we have to engage the FG with intellectualism, we call on all to be part of the resource control agitations, the time is now” (The Nation).

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Articles

What is NIN number in Nigeria?

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According to Wikipedia, a national identification number, national identity number, or national insurance number is used by the governments of many countries as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents,  permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation, government benefits, health care, and other governmentally-related functions. The number appears on identity documents issued by several countries.

Below are 7 things you need to know about the NIN in Nigeria

  1. The NIN is your assured digital identity
  2. The NIN is a set of 11 numbers assigned to an individual at the completion of enrolment into the national identity database
  3. The NIN is cannot be transferred from one person to another
  4. The NIN is used to verify your identity as a citizen
  5. Your NIN is what identifies you and can suffice for ID purposes
  6. The NIN is for life, it does not expire
  7. The NIN is a must – have for all citizens

Visit http://nimc.gov.ng/ for more details

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Q & A

Aisha Yesufu: Nigeria’s Statue of Liberty

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Aisha Yesufu

Aisha Yesufu is a Nigerian social and political activist who came to limelight for speaking up for the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. In 2020, she and thousands of Nigerians all over the world protested against police brutality. The almost 50 years old Aisha was also at the forefront of the #EndSARS protest and forced the Nigeria Police Force to listen to the voice of the people and dissolved SARS, a tactical unit of the police force on October 11, 2020.

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Aisha Yesufu⭐ was the co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign that tirelessly held protests demanding for the rescue of the 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno state. The Chibok schoolgirls were between the ages of 15-18 years as at the time of their abduction in 2014. She was part of Nigerian women that protested at Nigeria’s National Assembly, in Abuja, on 30 April 2014.

At the age of 10, the Nigerian female social and political activist concluded that the worst thing any human can do to her was to kill her. She realised that no matter what she and everyone else will still die and that death is inevitable and not the worst thing in life. Aisha Yusufu said she never feared anyone while growing up though she respects people. She only fears the Supreme Being. Aisha Yesufu in October 2020 said she would not leave the fight against End SARS protest in Nigeria for her children.

Biography of Aisha Yesufu

Aisha Yesufu was born in Kano state in December 1974, she is from Agbede in Edo state. She is from the tribe of Etsako and she is 5 feet 10 inches tall. Aisha described the place where she grew up in Kano as a ghetto. By the time she was 11 years, she did not have any female friends as all her female friends had been married and did not complete their education because they were at their husband house.

Education of Aisha Yesufu

Aisha Yusufu got her West African School Leaving Certificate from the Bayero University Staff Secondary School in 1991. According to an article on The Guardian, she wanted to enrol at the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) in 1991 but was rejected because she was a woman. Aisha Yesufu first gained admission to a tertiary institution at the Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto in 1992. In 1993, she got her A-Levels IJMB from the Kano State College of Arts & Science.

She left Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto after a crisis for Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where she got admitted to study Medicine. This female activist left Ahmadu Bello University when it was shut down because of the murder of a professor in 1994. She then got to study at the Department of Microbiology at Bayero University, Kano in 1996 and graduated with a second class upper Bachelor of Science Degree from the university in 1999 three years after.

In each of the 3 universities (Uthman Dan Fodio University, Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University) where she made friends, her friends avoided moving with her at the administrative block for fear of getting rusticated. She got a masters degree in Pharmaceutical Microbiology in 2006 at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

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Aisha Yesufu Career

Aisha Yesufu, a graduate of Microbiology is a businesswoman. She did her NYSC year in Kano state from January 1999 to January 2000. She was posted to and served at Kano State School of Nursing where she lectured students on medical microbiology, development and spread of infectious diseases in patients.

Aisha went to business after schooling in the 2000s. She made business her main focus. She is the CEO of Aliyyah & Amir Ventures Limited and has been with the family business since January 2003. Aisha Yesufu manages the day to day activities of the company. The business is involved in trading and distribution of general merchandise and raw materials in Northern Nigeria.

The businesswoman also founded Citizens Hub in January 2017. Citizens Hub is a non-profit organization that seeks to build a solution-driven and dynamic approach to building a financially independent, active and responsible citizenry. Citizens Hub is based in Abuja, Nigeria capital.

Aisha Yesufu’s Marriage

Aisha Yesufu got married to her husband Aliu, an Auchi man in 1996 while at the university at the age of 24. She was the one who approached her husband. The marriage is blessed with two children a son and a daughter with the youngest child (her daughter) born in December 2001. Aisha Yesufu once revealed that she is not a big fan of house chores. She says her husband is her number one fan.

Aisha Yesufu’s Activism

Activism as always being part of Aisha Yesufu life. She as always stood up against injustice. Aisha Yesufu do tell tales of how she participated in several protests while studying at the 3 universities she attended. She has been actively involved in over 100 protest marches demanding social justice in Nigeria.

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Aisha was a columnist at Daily Times from September 2019 to March 2020 where she wrote about contemporary issues affecting Nigeria. The Bring Back Our Girls civil rights group where she was the co-convener persistence helped in the rescue of at least 100 Chibok girls from the Boko Haram terrorist group with more still missing. She was the Sit-Out Coordinator and then Chairperson of the Strategic Team of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign group. Since 30th of April 2014, the civil the group has staged a sit-in protest at the Unity Fountain to compel the government to bring back the remaining girls despite all forms of intimidation and harassment by security agents and the Nigerian government.

In 2019, Aisha volunteered as a member of the Oby Ezekwesili Presidential Campaign Organization during the 2019 elections in Nigeria. In 2020, she was very active in the #EndSars campaign. Aisha and several thousands of Nigeria protested against police brutality that eventually led to the dissolution of the SARS tactical unit on Sunday, October 11, 2020, by the Inspector General of Police.

Aisha Yusufu is very active on social media and is known to fight injustice both online and offline. She has been physically present in at least over 100 protests in Nigeria and is known to be one of the positive change voice in Nigeria. She is fluent in English, Hausa, and Etsako languages. Aisha won an Award for Humanitarian Service during her NYSC. She as also won the Social Person of the week on Kakaaki and was also given the Voice of Humanity award by the Guardian Newspaper. Aisha Yusufu is a practising Muslim.

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