Special Feature
Wole Soyinka’s House Has Been Converted Into A Museum (See PHOTOS)
A house in Ife where literary icon Wole Soyinka once lived has been turned into a museum.
During his time as a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife in Osun State, the Nobel Prize winner lived in the building. It was also there that he gave birth to his first daughters, Peyi and Moremi.
As a tribute to Soyinka and to recognize his contribution to education and activism in Nigeria, the university converted the building into a museum in collaboration with a state government.
The Museum, which is located next to the Vice-official Chancellor’s residence, is essentially a repository for the majority of the important local and traditional art materials dear to Soyinka.
Over 100 priceless antiquities are on display at the museum. They represent some of Soyinka’s collections accumulated over the years. These items were loaned from Wole Soyinka’s current residence in Ijegba Forest, Kemta Abeokuta, Idi Aba Housing Estate.
The Wole Soyinka Museum was officially opened on Monday, July 30, 2018. le Soyinka’s House
The government of Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State, proposed converting and remodeling the building. It was done to firmly establish the link between cultural education, agriculture, and identity as enunciated in the Ogun government’s five cardinal agenda.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, who visited the exhibition on August 1 with over 50 people in his entourage, is among the eminent people who have visited it since it opened.
Wole Soyinka taught Dramatic Arts at OAU for about 24 years. His tenure began in 1963. He resigned a year later in protest of the authorities’ imposed pro-government behavior. He returned to teach there a few decades later.
After his first arrest and a few months in prison, he began teaching at the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan in 1965. Wole was imprisoned again from 1967 to 1969 while serving as Chief of the Cathedral of Drama at the University of Ibadan. House of Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka resumed (on and off) teaching at OAU in 1975 and continued until 1999, shortly after returning to Nigeria. He fled the country in 1994 after being charged with treason by the Sani Abacha regime.
Wole Soyinka, lecturing. April 1973. AFSTU lecture.