Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has advised students and staff of the Department of Dramatic Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, never to stay static, but to embrace change and innovation.
Soyinka, who was the pioneer Head of the Department, gave the advice on Thursday at the flag-off ceremony of the department’s 50th anniversary, held at the Pit Theatre, OAU, Ile-Ife, where he was the Special Guest of Honour.
He described the anniversary as very special to him since he was there at the very beginning, adding that he was struck by the transformation of the department and the Pit Theatre since his days in the institution.
“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,” Soyinka said.
He paid glowing tribute to the late Prof. Ola Rotimi, whom he described as the actual pioneer of the department and of active theatre accessible to both the gown and the town.
“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. I just came in to create a sort of new form in relation to the academic side of the university,” he said.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Acting Head of Department, Dr. Toyin Ogundeji, described Soyinka’s presence at fifty years as not merely an honour, but a spiritual and intellectual homecoming, noting that for five decades, the department has been more than a conventional classroom, but a laboratory of human experience where theory meets rigorous practice.
Ogundeji said the ceremony is a call to collective renewal, adding that maintaining the department’s position as the flagship of theatre training in Nigeria and Africa requires modernising studio equipment, upgrading technical infrastructure, and restoring iconic spaces like the Pit Theatre so that the next generation of Soyinkas, Rotimis, and global trailblazers can create without limitation.
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