Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka on Wednesday gave reasons why he accepted the renaming of the National Theatre, Lagos after him.
Soyinka, who said he never believed that the monument could ever be revamped, also admitted that he accepted the honour with mixed feelings, despite being a critic of many past leaders, who appropriated public monuments.
“I have to stand up in public and watch my name being put up as yet another appropriator. It just didn’t seem very well for me,” the literary icon said.
Soyinka, who stated while speaking at the reopening of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts (formerly National Arts Theatre, Iganmu Lagos), said he accepted to eat his words if the monumental turn-around of the theatre complex is what he would get in return.
According to him, before the renovation of the edifice, he thought it was irredeemable, but the Bankers’ Committee “made me eat my words.”’
Soyinka added said the Bankers’ Committee had done a great job and brought the edifice to global standards.
He said that with the recreation of the edifice, Nigerians can now watch Africa Theatre at home instead of travelling abroad.
The Bankers’ Committee committed N68 billion into the project.
