Just In: Close Relative Debunks Alleged Death of Professor Wole Soyinka

• Professor Wole Soyinka is not dead, contrary to a false claim by a fake Twitter account impersonating Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah
• Lola Shoneyin, a prominent Nigerian literary figure and daughter-in-law to Prof Soyinka described the rumoured death as untrue
• Shoneyin also stated that Professor Gurnah, the winner of the 2021 Nobel prize in literature, does not have a Twitter account

Lola Shoneyin, a prominent Nigerian literary figure and daughter-in-law to Professor Wole Soyinka, has debunked the rumoured death of the Nobel laureate.

According to Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), a fake Twitter announced the purported death of the Nigerian literary icon and 1986 Nobel Laureate winner.

The Twitter account was impersonating Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah, the winner of the 2021 Nobel prize in literature, FIJ discovered.

Dismissing the Soyinka's purported death, Shoneyin said the news was false.

Read also

Soyinka gives reason for visiting Sunday Igboho in Benin Republic, photo stirs reactions

She simply said:

“It’s not true."

Legit.ng gathers that Shoneyin had earlier said Professor Gurmah does not have a Twitter account.

Abdulrazak Gurnah: Former BUK lecturer who won Nobel literature prize

Earlier, it was reported that Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Tanzanian novelist and former lecturer at the Bayero University, Kano, won the prestigious 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Legit.ng gathers that Gurnah taught at the BUK in the formative years of the university, between 1980 and 1983.

The former BUK don was born in Zanzibar and went to Britain as a student in 1968.

Soyinka at 87: Throwback video of Nigerian literary icon receiving Nobel prize

Professor Soyinka wrote Nigeria and Africa's name in gold when he bagged the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1986.

Read also

Give it to him, he's got it: Fans commend 2Baba as he rolls back the years with top performance in Lagos

Soyinka's recognition reportedly made him the first sub-Saharan African to receive the global prize.

A video of the glorious moment Wole Soyinka was honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1986 has got many gushing. In the video shared on Facebook by Ayo Ojeniyi, Soyinka in his fifties at that time got a rousing standing ovation from the white people at the occasion as he stepped out to receive the prize.

The literary scholar marked his 87th birthday in July 2021.

Source: Legit.ng