PROFESSOR WOLE SOYINKA Professor Wole Soyinka was born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka in Abeokuta, present day Ogun State, South western Nigeria. He attended St. Peter’s Primary School, Abeokuta. After a brief stay at Abeokuta Grammar School, he proceeded to Government College, Ibadan having secured a scholarship. He attended the University College, Ibadan (now University of Ibadan) and later won a scholarship to the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. Professor Wole Soyinka is a man who has made significant impact in various areas of the society. He has received many laurels including the Nobel Prize for Literature. Among many other things, the following can be rightly said of Professor Soyinka. - He is a literary giant, a world renowned academic, political activist, human rights crusader and administrator. - He has made impressive contributions to scholarship, producing internationally acclaimed plays. - He has contributed to good governance and emancipation of the masses by revolting against anti-people policies and berating bad governments. - In the face of threats of arrest and detention, he has criticized corruption in government and dictatorships since the 1960s in his political speeches. - For him, politics is the struggle to positively reorganize society as against the pervasive struggle for material benefits. - He has been consistent on national issues, a national advocate of the poor and the oppressed. - He has been a major actor in the civil society engagement of the state, especially during the military era. - He was an active member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which fought the military for the enthronement of democracy. - As a lecturer at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), he founded a theatre outfit known as the Unife Guerrilla Theatre. The group presented plays in parks, markets and on street corners attacking corruption and political oppression in Nigeria. - As the pioneer head (Chairman) of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), he demonstrated competence, vision and organizational skills. The corps, under his tenure, helped to reduce road accidents and deaths, provided assistance to accident victims and improved management of vehicle registration processes. - The FRSC under him was relatively free from the pervasive corruption that characterizes some public institutions in the country. - He is largely untainted by financial controversies. .