I had mixed feelings accepting this honour of the National Theatre being named after me because I'm notorious for criticising so many personal appropriations of public monuments by some of our past leaders. Most times, everything is named after them, and I think just 25% truly deserve it.
At one point, I even publicly challenged one of your predecessors in Abuja because of these naming events. However, by the time I looked at the history of theatre in this country and I think of my predecessors, I just said someone has to carry the can and if a group of bankers using some of my 'money' decide to honour me, what's wrong with that ?
When Governor Sanwo-Olu and his team wanted me to join them to inspect this theatre for an event, I told them to go without me. I said I've advised you, get someone secretly to plant a bo*mb and blow it off. I called it a slum and these bankers got together to make me eat my words. Well, if eating one's words produces a muscle like this, then it's very tasty set of words, and I want to congratulate you for doing what I considered and pronounced impossible
- Professor Wole Soyinka speaks on some personal reasons why he accepted the naming of the National Theatre to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts
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