Wole Soyinka Day: Alake of Egba Land Solicits National Recognition

 Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, has suggested to the president that July 13, be designated a national holiday in honour of the achievements of  Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka. The Alake made this suggestion during a press briefing at Abeokuta on Tuesday 2nd July 2024, to commence a series of activities planned to celebrate the 90th birthday of the inaugural African recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The traditional ruler am further suggested that the federal government recognizes  Soyinka's contributions to the country and literary world, by conferring upon him the prestigious title of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger. In keeping with his national proposal of a "Soyinka Day", Oba Gbadebo revealed that  July 13 has been officially declared a day to celebrate Wole Soyinka in Egba Land.

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Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde "Wole" Soyinka who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun state, was born on 13 July 1934. His mother, Grace Eniola Soyinka, was one of the most prominent members of the influential Ransome-Kuti family: she was the granddaughter of Rev. Canon J. J. Ransome-Kuti as the only daughter of his first daughter, Anne Lape Iyabode Ransome-Kuti, and was therefore a niece to Olusegun Azariah Ransome-Kuti, Oludotun Ransome-Kuti and niece in-law to Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Wole Soyinka was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.