Soyinka difficult to read? It’s the declining standard of education

The failure of the educational system in the country has been identified as the reason why many young Nigerians find works of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, difficult to read.

This was echoed at the sixth Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series held on Sunday by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) in commemoration of the doyen’s 80th birthday anniversary.

In his speech, the guest lecturer, Prof Francis Abiola Irele, provost of the college of humanities, Kwara State University, Malete, described Nigerian literature has having “an impressive presence in the world, however, narrowed to the elites, which is as best a regrettable decision”.

He called for a revamp of the educational system, which he observed has been deliberately diverting brilliant children.

“They don’t teach literature anymore. The fact that you are in pure sciences doesn’t mean you should not read the likes of Achebe and Soyinka,” he said.

“Such education only de-educates one. Today’s youths are not getting what we got. We learnt in Latin and pure Greek in our days. These sharpened our thoughts. Simplification is not in the culture of literature.”

These observations sparked a series of responses from discussants at the event, such as dean, faculty of humanities, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Prof Dan Izevbaye; chair, board of trustees, WSCIJ, Prof Ropo Sekoni; seasoned poet, social critic and playwright, Mr Odia Ofeimun; and Mr Jeffery Hawkins of the US Consul in Nigeria.

Hawkins later described Soyinka as a blessing to Nigeria, saying “he is at best a global icon”. Other discussants described him as a leftist, non-conformist, a theorist, a spiritualist and a prophet.

On naming the WSCIF after the octogenarian, founder of the centre, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, said: “We have a failing media, as such, one of the ways of renewing the media, which is actually a way of redeeming democracy, is by recognising men and women doing things right in the media. Soyinka was one man who represented the values we advocate.”

The University of Ibadan Theatre Arts Troupe entertained guests at the event with excerpts from The Trials of Brother Jero and No! He said, both written by the celebrant.