President Bola Tinubu has renamed the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, after Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka. This announcement, made in a letter signed by Tinubu, comes in honor of Soyinka’s 90th birthday.

“I am pleased to join admirers around the world in celebrating the 90th birthday of Nigeria’s iconic son and world-renowned Professor Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde, famously known as Wole Soyinka,” Tinubu wrote. “It is fitting to celebrate this national treasure while he is still with us. I am delighted to announce the decision to rename the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, as the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts.”

Tinubu praised Soyinka’s outstanding literary achievements and his unwavering advocacy for equity and justice. “Professor Soyinka is a colossus, a true Renaissance person with innumerable talents. He is a playwright, actor, poet, human rights and political activist, composer, and singer. He remains the shining light of our nation, decrying tyranny and oppression, urging us to become better as a nation.”

Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Literature Prize in 1986, is celebrated for his significant contributions to literature and his vocal criticism of oppression and injustice. Tinubu emphasized that Soyinka’s influence transcends Nigeria, inspiring people worldwide. “Since his youth, he has been a vocal critic of oppression and injustice wherever it exists, from apartheid in South Africa to racism in the United States. Soyinka always speaks truth to power,” Tinubu added.

The renaming of the National Theatre marks a significant recognition of Soyinka’s impact on Nigerian culture and the arts.