The immediate past Special Adviser to the president on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu has called on Nigerian youths to emulate the zeal and commitment of celebrated noble laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka in fight for good governance at younger age.
The renowned journalist explained that youths should not wait for leaders to carry placards or protest for social justice, rather they should stand up and demand good governance from their leaders like the nonagenarian did when he was younger.
Ojudu spoke at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital during an event he hosted to celebrate the 90th birthday anniversary of Soyinka, alongside other literary scholars and enthusiasts in the state and beyond.
The event was held in collaboration with Ekiti Book Club; Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Ekiti chapter; Ekiti State Tourism Agency; and the Ekiti State Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for honoring the literary giant by renaming the national theater in Lagos after him, saying, ” those are the people we should be honouring. The people who has given so much to this country; the people who are good examples and role model to our children, not people who are rich and their money will just be for a while.”
He described Soyinka as a hero who deserved to be celebrated daily for his contributions not only to the literary space but his efforts at entrenching democracy and its values in the country and beyond.
The former presidential aide noted that even though Soyinka might not have seen a country he wished for in terms of social, economic, and political developments, he said he had done his best for Nigeria, ” and let our young ones start advocating for a better Nigeria and not wait for a 90-year-old man to lead protest for them.”
According to him, “He (Soyinka) never gave up even in the face of persecution and arrest, he continued to fight for a better Nigeria. He fought for the democracy we are enjoying today and I don’t think there is any other Nigerian like him in terms of the tasks he has given himself to birth a better country.
” He is 90 but Nigeria is not yet a country he wished but he has done his own. When I saw some young men condemning him for not fighting the present government I asked them if they have a grandfather who is 90, would you want him in the streets carrying placards?
” I tell them to go and fight for a better Nigeria; Soyinka started about the age of 20. You don’t need to call an old man to fight your battle for you, he has done his own for us as a country. Let our young ones take over towards achieving a greater country.
” Soyinka fight for the people, he fight against oppression, injustices. All of those things are still in our society, so Soyinka will become a symbol for fighting all of those ills in the society. It’s a journey, it’s not a destination, we must continue to refine our system, we must continue to aim and build a better society and that is what today stands for.”
Speaking on reasons for celebrating the nonagenarian in the state, Ojudu said, ” First of all, let me say I passed through Soyinka as a student of the University of Ife, I have also been involved with him in the struggle for a better Nigeria. Beyond that, is the fact that he belongs to humanity, to Africa, to the world, and Nigeria, and Ekiti is part of the world. Ekiti is a state that is known as the fountain of knowledge and Soyinka symbolizes knowledge, so we believe that If he is been celebrated in all parts of the world, he should be celebrated here as well.
“Apart from the fact that his conglobe is ‘eni ogun’ and ogun is from here, so we believe that there is a place in which we adopt him as our own in continuation of the tradition of Ogun. And I hope you know what Ogun symbolizes, it symbolizes creativity, courage, revolution and those are the qualities we admired in him and that is why he is being celebrated.”
In their separate remarks, the president of Ekiti Book Club, Adesina Adetola; chairman of Tourism Practitioners, Dr Abigael Olagbaye; chairman of ANA, Dr Olugbenga Daramola, and the DG of state Bureau of Tourism Development, Wale Ojo-Lanre commended Senator Ojudu for hosting the event, noting that Soyinka remained Africa famous literary icon who deserved to be celebrated by the people.
