Soyinka urges students to embrace innovation

Wole Soyinka. Credit: Shutterstock

Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has urged students and staff of the Department of Dramatic Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, to embrace innovation and avoid stagnation.

Soyinka gave the advice on Thursday at the flag-off ceremony of the department’s 50th anniversary, held at the Pit Theatre, OAU, where he was the special guest of honour.

The playwright, who was the department’s pioneer head, said he was struck by its transformation and that of the Pit Theatre several years after leaving the institution.

Describing the anniversary as special to him because he was present at the department’s inception, Soyinka said institutions that bring together students from different parts of the world for learning and creative activities were special but complex to manage.

He said, “To the students and the department, never stay static. Change is what art is all about, and of all the various media of artistic creativity, I think theatre is the most inclusive.

“You know, you perform, you exchange ideas, new ideas come into your head, and never, never say no to innovation. It is never achieved by one person.”

Reflecting on the department’s history, Soyinka paid tribute to the late Prof Ola Rotimi, whom he described as the actual pioneer of the department and credited with establishing an active theatre group that attracted attention beyond the university community and Nigeria.

“The person whom I actually consider the pioneer of this department, and of theatre, active theatre, accessible to both the gown and the town, is the late Ola Rotimi. He activated, he created, and he kept alive the Ori Olokun theatre. When the idea came up, I wasn’t even here; Ori Olokun was functioning, and it was working, and it was inviting even international troops.

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“I just came in to create a sort of new form in relation to the academic side of the university. This place was a work, the pioneering work of Ola Rotimi and his team. His events remain memorable to this day. It was a great pleasure to have worked with him before he left for Port Harcourt,” Soyinka added.

Earlier, the Acting Head of the Department, Dr Toyin Ogundeji, described Soyinka’s presence at the event as not merely an honour but a spiritual and intellectual homecoming.

She said the department had, for five decades, functioned as more than a conventional classroom, serving as a laboratory of human experience where theory met rigorous practice.

Ogundeji said the department was mindful of the demands of the present and the opportunities ahead as it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

“Today’s ceremony is a call to collective renewal. Maintaining our position as the flagship of theatre training in Nigeria and Africa requires modernising our studio equipment, upgrading our technical infrastructure, and restoring iconic spaces like this Pit Theatre so that the next generation of Soyinkas, Rotimis, and global trailblazers can create without limitation.

“We therefore look forward with great optimism to strengthened partnerships with the University Management, government agencies, corporate bodies, and our formidable alumni network as we embark on this year-long celebration,” Ogundeji said.

The PUNCH reports that the University of Ibadan recently renamed its Arts Theatre after Soyinka, while OAU established a museum in his honour.