Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has opened up on why he accepted the renaming of the National Theatre, Lagos, after him.
According to him, he never believed that the monument could ever be revamped.
The author spoke at the reopening of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts (formerly National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos).
He stated that he accepted the honour with mixed feelings, despite being a critic of many past leaders, who appropriated public monuments.
“I have to stand up in public and watch my name being put up as yet another appropriator. It just didn’t seem very well for me,” he said.
Soyinka noted that he would accept eating his words if the monumental turnaround of the theatre complex was what he would get in return.
He explained that before the renovation of the edifice, he thought it was irredeemable, but the Bankers’ Committee “made me eat my words.”’
He applauded the Bankers’ Committee, maintaining that they had brought the edifice to global standards.
He said that with the recreation of the edifice, Nigerians can now watch Africa Theatre at home instead of travelling abroad.
The Bankers’ Committee committed ₦68 billion into the project.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the occasion, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to float a National Arts Theatre Endowment Fund to ensure the maintenance of the national edifice.
Soyinka said, “And one of the reasons was I nearly electrocuted two of my actors. That is how they crept into my car. The roofs were leaking, so the pools of water were everywhere. And of course, there were electric wires also.
“One other reason is nostalgia. I remember this building when it was first erected, when we did it originally. I think we called it General’s Hat, because of the shape of the roof. There’s a constant re-conception very little of what I call the African architectural intelligence in it.
“Then there’s another reason why I thought I should accept.
“Well, I was already ambushed. They shaved my head behind me. I would have raised a squawk. But, then I decided, this building belongs to me. It belongs to me.”
Among the prominent persons at the event were First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, who coordinated the Bankers’ Committee, Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi, who is a former CBN governor; Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa.
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