The reason behind Wole Soyinka’s new book at 90

Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has given reason why he wrote a new book at 90, saying the idea of writing the book came through the course he was teaching outside the country.

Soyinka, in an interview with TheNEWS to mark his 90th birthday said the book was inspired by the brutal murder of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State.

“The idea of writing the play came about through the course I have been teaching outside. The course is titled “Faith, Power and Ideology.” And it has to do with the killing of Deborah Samuel, which is something that has obsessed me for quite a while.

“Not just the killing but the arrogant relegation of justice that followed. The failure and reluctance to prosecute those killers who are identified and filmed. And the fact that one of the killers was so contemptuous of justice that he could pose on the internet with a box of matches.

“That is what triggered that play. I have used that episode in my classes. I have asked my students to google Deborah Samuel and see what is there. They couldn’t believe, by the way, that it happened,” Soyinka said.

Soyinka added that “Then, I told them I wanted to see their treatment of that episode in their imaginative reconstructions. I used that episode in my teaching and I left it alone. But it just kept nagging me. I didn’t have any peace of mind until I had written it.”