Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka's daughter, Moremi Soyinka-Onijala, has spoken about her father's unique parenting style and its influence on her and her siblings.
Mrs Soyinka-Onijala, Special Adviser on Migration and Humanitarian Affairs to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, disclosed this during an interview with TVC at a programme held at Remo Anglican College, Isara, Ogun State, to commemorate her father’s 90th birthday.
Ms Soyinka-Onijala, the second daughter of Mr Soyinka's second wife, Olaide Idowu, served as a member of an Interim Ministerial Committee on the Nigeria Police Trust Fund during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In July, the Odemo of Isara, Oba Albert Adebose Mayungbe, conferred upon him the traditional title of Yeye Bamofin during an event to celebrate his father's 90th birthday held at the Afotamodi Town Hall, Isara-Remo.
Mr Soyinka, who has a writers' enclave named in his honour by the African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Centre established in 2011, turned 90 on July 13.
To honor the playwright's 90th birthday, events were organized including lectures, essay contests, promotional sessions, theater performances, classical plays, and more.
In the interview video shared on TVC’s YouTube page on Tuesday, Ms Soyinka-Onijala, Moremi Soyinka-Onijala, a lawyer, said: “My father was a gentle disciplinarian. He did not believe in using the cane but one look in his eyes was enough to tell you that you were doing something wrong. He preferred to talk to us rather than use physical punishment. The only time I remember my father beating me – I think he gave me three belts – was one day after primary school. The person who came to pick us up could not find me because I had decided to follow some of my friends, the Okes, home without telling my parents or asking permission.
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“My brothers said, ‘Let’s go home. ’ I said, ‘No, I’m going with them. ’ So I went with my friends. The others, who were young, didn’t know how to explain it to me, so they were looking for me. When they found me and took me home, my dad said, ‘There’s no dinner. ’ My mom said, ‘Please, I’m sorry. ’ He said, ‘No, there’s no dinner. Go to bed. ’ Of course, mothers give you something to eat later. And he gave me three belts.”
Soyinka's preferences
Ms Soyinka-Onijala revealed what her father's favourite foods are.
She said: “One of the first things I would like to share about my father is that he loves wine. He likes good wine, he is a wine connoisseur and has a very rich wine cellar. You may not know that as soon as we were born, my dad used to give us sips of wine so that we could start to appreciate the flavours and differences.
“This is quite interesting. He also has a peculiar taste in food. He is not the kind of person who sits down to eat pounded yam, as I love it. He likes certain kinds of wild animal meat. But he doesn’t eat much. He eats very little.”
Birthday
Ms Soyinka-Onijala, a lawyer, said they celebrated her father's 90th birthday by distributing school bags to students at Remo Anglican College in Isara, Ogun State.
He added that the program benefited a thousand students.
“As a family, we were discussing how to commemorate our father’s birthday in a meaningful way. Knowing that he likes children and that we have always done outreach as a family, although not on this scale, I suggested that we reach out to local people to find out what we could do in Isara and Ake, because Dad attended St. Peter’s Anglican Primary School, Ake, the first school in Nigeria.
“We gathered statistics and decided to provide school bags. My brothers loved the idea so we started preparing at the beginning of the year for a thousand children, half in Ake and half in Isara. We planned to go back and do the same for the other arms. However, this hall would not accommodate us if the entire population of the four secondary schools were here. So we decided to do it in parts, focusing on SS2 and the whole of Remo Anglican College because our grandparents were instrumental in founding that school. It is a special school for us.”
Born in Abeokuta, Soyinka has garnered numerous awards and recognitions for his work.
He was recently awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Academy of Morocco, in recognition of his exceptional influence on the development of world literature.