The Nobel Laureate hosted students in his Abeokuta home.
Nobel Laureate and literary icon, Wole Soyinka, on Sunday revealed that he would have been a journalist if he was not denied the opportunity when he sat for an examination at the Daily Times after graduating from the University.
He made the disclosure in his home in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital, when he hosted secondary school students across the country as part of this year’s Open Door Series project, an international cultural exchange programme, marking his 79th birthday.
‘When I left school, I wanted to be a journalist. I actually sat for an exam to be absolved in Daily Times…but after the exam, I was told that I wrote a short story and not a news story. So, I was not taken. Thank goodness, I did not become a journalist,” he told his visitors.
Mr. Soyinka also urged Nigerian students, especially those residing in violence-prone areas of the North, not to be discouraged by the activities of the Boko Haram sect, while appealing to both the federal and state governments to eliminate barriers and create conducive environment for Nigerians to access qualitative education.
He advised students not to be dissuaded by negative things happening in the country, urging them to draw inspiration from the life of a 16-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head on October 9, 2012 by Taliban fighters over her campaign for girl-child education in Pakistan.
Malala had on Friday addressed the maiden United Nations Youth Assembly where she called on world leaders to provide free education to all children, and further vowed not to relent in her campaign.
Mr. Soyinka charged students not to be satisfied with failure but rather strive to excel in all their endeavours, just as he asked the federal and state governments to obtain the speech of Malala and make it available to all libraries, schools and archives in order to serve as reference point for upcoming generations.
“It looks very negative and hopeless. We must not allow ourselves to be discouraged. And the fact that people are still going to schools in those areas (violence-prone areas of northern Nigeria) shows that we should not be discouraged. You are not a complete human being if you are not educated, schooled or cultured,” he told the students.
“No matter what goes around you, you (students) must insist on your education. I am demanding from governors and the federal government to obtain the speech of that young girl (Malala), burn it into CDs (compact discs) and make it available to all libraries, schools and archives’ the playwright emphasised.
The Nobel Laureate said he believed that religion should be a private thing and stressed the need for inter-religious tolerance among all Nigerians.
Before the visit to Mr. Soyinka, the 79 students were guests of Governor Ibikunle Amosun who urged them not to relent in their educational pursuits.
Mr. Amosun, who described Mr. Soyinka as “a world citizen,” also advised the participants in the essay competition to emulate the life of the literary giant and be more studious.
The governor commended the organizers and restated the commitment of the state government towards supporting the celebration of the life of the Nobel Laureate.
The governor later presented prizes to five winners of the essay competition, which was held on Saturday at the Freedom Park, Lagos.
The first winner was Motolani Akinpelu of Oladipo Alayande School of Science, Oke Bola, Ibadan; while the second prize went to Andrew Adedero of Mount Saint Gabriel Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue State.
Tomisin Adebisi and Chukwu Winke of Lead City High School Ibadan, Oyo State and Dority International School, Aba, Abia State, jointly emerged third; while Odiakosa Alfred of St. Charles Secondary School Onitsha, Anambra State, came fifth.
The event, tagged: “Memoirs of our future” was organized by a Lagos-based multimedia company, Zmirage, in conjunction with the Ogun State Government.
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