The Alake of Egbaland, Adedotun Gbadebo, has implored the federal government to adopt July 13 as a national day to celebrate the ernomous contributions of Wole Soyinka, the Nobel laureate, to Nigeria’s development.
Whilst speaking in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state, on Tuesday, the Alake asked the federal government to honour Soyinka with the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) award to celebrate his 90th birthday.
Professor Soyinka will turn 90 on July 13.
The Alake, however, announced that July 13 would henceforth be Wole Soyinka Day in Egba land, where the novelist hails from.
The traditional ruler emphasizes the order of events put in place to celebrate Soyinka’s 90th birthday.
The monarch disclosed that the theme of the celebration is ‘Defiance and creativity: A celebration of Soyinka’s artistic ingenuity and impact on Nigeria, Africa, and the entire world’.
He added that Soyinka deserves to be celebrated for being the first African Nobel Prize winner in literature and also for his positive impact on the new generation of youth.
“It will be appropriate for the federal government to adopt July 13 as a national day to celebrate Professor Wole Soyinka, given his contribution to literature and humanity globally,” Alake said.
“It will be good to henceforth adopt his birthday, which is July 13, as Wole Soyinka Day.
“In fact, New Orleans in the United States of America has already adopted a day to celebrate him, so why can’t we do so to honour our own too?
“The federal government should also, in addition to this, confer on Wole Soyinka the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger because of his contribution to register our dear nation on the global map.”