‘Pride of black people’ — Laolu Akande celebrates Soyinka at 90

Laolu Akande, a former spokesperson for ex-Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has described Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, as the “compelling conscience of the nation”.

Akande eulogised Soyinka in a birthday message to the literature icon, who turned 90 on Saturday.

He praised Soyinka as the “pride of black people and a global icon whose humanity continues to shape the perspectives and inspire millions of people everywhere”.

Akande, a journalist, credited his career success “partly” to Soyinka’s role as “a news source”.

“I must acknowledge that Soyinka, as a news source, was partly responsible for the successes, which by the grace of God, dot my career as a journalist,” he wrote.

“My editors and superiors in the newsroom then, such as Mr. Jahman Anikulapo, Ambassador Debo Adesina, and our overall boss, Mr. Emeka Izeze, who often thought of me as an asset to the newspaper [which is very humbling], would tell me that my closeness to Soyinka confirms what they had always known.”

Akande also recalled how the Nobel laureate “lavishly” wrote a letter of recommendation that helped him secure “a dream job in New York Newsday in 2000”.

“I remember when I landed what was a dream job in New York Newsday in 2000 as a copy editor. It was such a dream world as the company sent a limousine to receive me at the airport and put me up at the best hotel in Long Island,” he said.

“So they needed a letter of recommendation as part of the employment process. I decided to bring out the big guns and show those Oyinbos!

“I asked Soyinka to please do the honours, and he did it so lavishly that I became the envy of many in the newsroom with a Nobel laureate-penned letter of recommendation.”