By Nehru Odeh
Former Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has opened up on a priceless favour the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, did him in 2007 and ended up creating a controversy among his pastor friends.
Osinbajo made this revelation while delivering a speech entitled “Soyinka; The Imperative of a Public Conscience” at the Soyinka International Sympossium organized by the Nigerian Academy of Letters in honour of Professor Wole Soyinka who turns 90 on 13 July 2024.
The symposium, the theme of which was “Eni Ogun: An Enduring Legacy”, held on Thursday 11 July 2024 at the J.F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium, University of Lagos. Professor Niyi Osundare, poet, playwright, essayist, scholar and Emeritus Distinguished Professor at the University of New Orleans, United States, delivered the keynote address.
While delivering his speech, Osinbajo went down memory lane as he narrated how Soyinka accepted his invitation to attend the launch of The Orderly Society Trust which he and his wife, Dolapo, formed in 2007 when he was 50, even though he (Soyinka) hadn’t known him at the time.
According to Osinbajo, not only did Soyinka attend the event and deliver a speech, he also created a controversy among his pastor friends when he suggested that there might not be heaven.
“Soyinka interfered and still interferes with everybody’s space. So one must not be shy to interfere with his. I am also grateful for this opportunity because it gives me a chance to repay or return a pricessless favour.
“In 2007 I turned 50. My wife and I decided to launch the Orderly Society Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to a sane and organized society. My own preferred person to speak to just about 50 guests was no other than Professor Wole Soyinka. He could be anywhere in the world. And anyway, why should he bother to attend an event in honour of someone who he barely knows?
“I called Makin, his son, my friend, and asked him if he would make the request on my behalf. He did. Prof was travelling and he wasn’t sure he would make it to Lagos let alone to attend the event.
“But the unbelievable happened. Prof came and attended the event, spent the whole time there and even created a controversy among my many pastor friends, when he suggested that there might not even be heaven,” Osinbajo said, and the hall roared with laughter.
Distinguished guests in attendance included former governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi and his wife, Bisi, Fayemi; Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Folasade Ogunsola; former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Duro Oni; President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Professor Sola Akinrinade; and the Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Letters, Professor Olakunbi Olasope.