Author: Professor Tunji Olaopa

WOLE Soyinka has been hoary since I came to the knowledge of his works and his activism many years ago. Hoariness, for me, is not a feature of age or greying hair. On the contrary, I attach a certain level of exceptional venerableness to the very figure of WS. He possesses a dateless significance for me that surpasses the depth of his literary works to encompass his many-sided contributions to the idea of the Nigerian postcolony. I dare say that Wole Soyinka’s status as a phenomenal literary person assumes an even greater depth because of his very presence and attachment…

WHEN a scholar combines a mentoring frame of mind, and educational energy and a philosophical bent of mind, what you have is a Socratic orientation; what you have is Professor Otonti Nduka. I just met Professor Nduka some months ago, and in that short period, I have had moments of epiphanies and humility in equal proportion. When I think of Prof. Nduka, my mind resolutely revisits Woodrow Wilson’s admonition: “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope…