When President Bola Tinubu Honoured Prof Wole Soyinka in Brazil & The Aftermath
So President Tinubu offered his seat to Prof Soyinka to sit at Brazil to the admiration of President Lula??
This short story will interest you.
During President Tinubu’s recent state visit to Brazil, three encounters ensued that will go down as some of history’s greatest moments between leaders of nations and sages of the ages.
First… during the State Lunch in honor of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Nigerian President rose, and offered his presidential seat to Professor Wole Soyinka: “Egbon, e wa joko si ibiyi” Elder bro, please come and sit here.
The hall fell silent.
Although the Prof. politely declined., the gravity of the gesture weighed heavy on the gathering. The cultured gesture of humility is a recognition of aura.
President Lula watched in awe. In great admiration of two great omoluabi sons of Africa.
The second encounter was during a private audience with the literary icon when President Lula confessed:
“I could not stop thinking about the respect your President showed you…
I was fascinated. What an honor.”
Learning that Soyinka had endured a 36-hour journey from Lagos at his age:
“At over 90, you came all this way for Africa. What greatness.”
Lula marvelled, revealing his own desire to live to 120 years.
Then came the unforgettable moment: President Lula moved closer and humbly whispered: “The grace on you, I ask it upon myself.”
It was as if the Brazilian president had whispered in Nigerian street parlance:
“Prof, abeg cut soap for me.”
Professor Soyinka leaned forward and gently touched his iconic crown of white hair to Lula’s forehead in a spiritual embrace of spirits, cultures, and heritage.
It was Reverence. A transference of ancestral wisdom across the Atlantic.
Soyinka, with his trademark wit, conferred upon Lula an “honorary doctorate from Nigeria’s premier universities.”
Their conversation turned to the Heritage Voyage of Return (HVR). A historic journey of Afro-descendants in Brazil, the Americas, and the Caribbean back to Africa, through the seas as a symbolic reconnection to the ancestral soil.
“Brazil will support this.” Lula endorse
Later that day, the initiative was formally presented at Brazil’s Legislative Chamber, with Professor Soyinka joined by Nigeria’s CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso (representing President Tinubu), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chair of NIDCOM, and Otunba Ajiboye, DG at the National Institute of Cutural Orientation, NICO.
And the very next day, President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s total support for HVR: “This is a crucial step in reconnecting Africa’s scattered sons and daughters
In those iconic moments Tinubu and Soyinka; and between Soyinka and Lula, Africa and Brazil found a new covenant of heritage, honor, and healing.
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