From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
Senator Babafemi.Ojudu, the immediate past Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, has advised youths in the country to emulate the literary giant, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and start the fight for a better Nigeria now that they are young.
Ojudu called on the youths to stop waiting for the older generation to lead the protest for good governance, but that they should champion the course themselves, saying the noble laureate started his struggle for a better Nigeria as a young boy.
He, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for honouring Soyinka by renaming the National Theatre in Lagos State after him.
Ojudu who described the literary icon as a hero, appreciated his immense contributions to the literary world and his roles in the enthronement of democracy and the development of the country.
The former Presidential aide stated these at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital at an event he hosted to celebrate the 90th birthday anniversary of Soyinka , alongside other literary scholars and enthusiasts within and outside the state.
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.
According to him, Soyinka might not have seen the Nigeria of his dream, he pointed out that the nonagenarian has done his best for the country.
“Let our young ones start advocating for a better Nigeria and not wait for a 90-year-old man to lead protest for them.”
“Soyinka never gave up even at 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 of not fighting the present government and I asked them, if you have a grandfather who is 90, will 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 takeover towards achieving a greater country.
” Soyinka fought for the people, he fought 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.”
On the renaming of the National Theatre after Soyinka, Ojudu said, ” those are the people we should be honouring. The people who have given so much to this country; the people who are good examples and role models to our children, not people who are rich and their money will just be for a while.”
On what informed his decision to
celebrate the nonagenarian in the state, Ojudu said, ” First of all, let me say I passed through Soyinka as a student of 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 the Africa, to the world and to Nigeria, and Ekiti is part of the world. Ekiti is a state that is known as fountain of knowledge and Soyinka symbolizes knowledge, so, we believe that If he is being celebrated in all parts of the world, he should be celebrated here as well.
” Apart from the fact that his conglome is ‘Eni Ogun’ and Ogun is from here, so we believe that there is a place 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.”