By
Segun Olatunji/Punch
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Dr.
Olaokun Soyinka
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Because of his busy schedule,
playwright Prof. Wole Soyinka did not spend time with his children as he would
have loved. His first son, Olaokun, who is the Ogun State’s Commissioner for
Health, tells Segun Olatunji how he won his attention even when he was on exile.
How was your childhood?
I guess it was an unusual situation
because anybody who knows my father’s history, including his incarceration
during the civil war, will know that he’s a father who would appear and
disappear. You were never sure whether he was on an aeroplane, in a vehicle or
in jail. Nevertheless, it was very interesting growing up with a dad like Wole
Soyinka. I think one of the interesting things was that you’ll see many people
coming to the house. Of course, when he was at home, there were lots of famous
people, well-known people, public figures who came to see him. All these made
growing up with him very interesting.
How did the family cope with his incarceration
during the civil war?
As a child, was very different. Now
that I’m grown up I look back at that period, I realise that those who say
children have no worries are right. We did not really know what was happening.
We didn’t know the seriousness of the situation. It was only years later that I
realised that he came very close to being assassinated while he was in jail.
Each time we missed him in the house, the feeling we had was that he had
probably gone somewhere as he always did in those days. It never occurred to us
that he was in jail. By the time we even understood what detention meant, it
sounded temporary to us. It did not give us the impression that father had been
clamped in jail.
Where were you living then?
We were living in the University of
Ibadan with my step-mum, my brother and sisters. I know it was very hard for my
step-mother, running around, struggling and trying to get through to him in
jail. It was even harder trying to raise public opinion to get him released and
raising awareness that would lead to his release. I discovered all these much
later in life.
What impact did his absence have on the
children?
We just missed him normally and thought
that he would be back soon.
Did he create time to spend with the
family when he was not in detention?
It was not just being an activist that
took so much of his time when we were young, there were so many other
activities that ate up his time and it is still the same today. In those days,
he travelled abroad so many times to deliver lectures. He also worked abroad
for a period of time. Then there was a time when he went on self-exile. He
would have spent more time with us but he was too busy.
Were there times when you let him know
that you wanted to see more of him around?
There were so many times when I want to
his study and told him that I wanted to play ball with him outside. Sometimes,
I would go to him and tell him that I would like to ride with him to his
office. During holidays, I would ride my bicycle behind his car to his office
which was not far from home and hang around till he created time to play with
me. If he was too busy, he would tell me to go and play around the premises
because he had no time to spare.
We were in the primary school when he
became the head of theatre arts department in the university. I would go there
when they were rehearsing a play and be a nuisance in the theatre hall. I had
my corner in the hall and a small sit.
The truth is that if you wanted to
spend time with my father, you had to force him to give you attention in those
days.
How did the family cope when he went on
exile?
When he was in Ghana, we visited him
there often. We also visited him in other countries he went to but his absence
destabilised the family. We eventually left Nigeria to live in different
countries because we were advised that the late Sani Abacha could target
relatives and children if he could not get my father. It was a difficult time
for us. We had grown up at the time so we could take care of ourselves in a
foreign land even if our parents were not there. I worked abroad for some years
and almost lost touch with my fatherland. The family scattered all over the UK
and the US because of military rule. My other siblings grew up in the US and
the UK and by the time they became adults, returning home was a big problem
because we did not know what it would look like at home.
Did your father ever spank you for an
offence committed?
He never beat me or any of my
siblings. He has a scary look when he was angry, that was enough to warn
the children not to misbehave. Instead of beating a child, he would punish you
psychologically by either confining you to your room or he made us recite a
line of words. I once struggled with my sister over a piece of toast. I had a
knife with me and when I tried to bring it out of the toaster, the machine
exploded. He punished me by making me recite the words, ‘I would not stick a
knife into the toaster again,’ 1000 times. By the time I said it 100 times, I
was tired and bored. That was a way to make us learn lesson.
Who was your father’s favourite child
when you were growing up?
He did not show preference for any
child. We all had different relationships with him. I had four sisters and a
brother who is the youngest in the family. We did not spend all the childhood
days together because we all left Nigeria at various time, so our relationship
with him was not really defined.
How close are you to him now?
I see him at regular intervals just
like it happened when we were growing up. He is never in a place for long but I
think I have been lucky to see more of him, and that gives me a sense of
continuity and close bond with him. During the Abacha regime, I was always
communicating with him through the telephone and email. He told me about the
various pro-democracy movements in Nigeria. Of course, being in Abeokuta now
gives me the opportunity to see him more than before.
Does he share secrets with his
children?
One thing dad likes to do is having a
nice dinner and a bottle of wine. So when I was in the University in London, he
would stop by to visit me on his way to other countries. We would go to a nice
place to have dinner and while the wine is flowing in our system, we would feel
free to talk on various topics. He would discuss Nigeria and world politics
with me and being a great company to be with, he seized the moment to entertain
me.
On a day like that, he would discuss
family issues with me, things that were kept away from me since I was born,
history of the family and things that my brother and sisters did when I was not
around. I was free to also ask him questions about his life. I once asked him
if he was the gunman who held up the radio station but he avoided the question
and I did not know anything about it until I read it in one of his books. So
when he is free, he can confide in any of his children.
Is there any secret about his private
life?
He is a normal human being that has
lived life in various shapes. He has a house in Abeokuta hidden away in the
bush. It is full of carvings, artworks, paintings and ceramic. But that is no
secret even though people do not know. The path to the house is rocky and you
will only know why he did that if you pay a visit to the house.
What kind of music does your father
like to listen to?
He has an assorted taste. He listens to
a wide variety of music. I know my first ever encounter with Flamenco music was
in his music collection. That’s Spanish Gypsy music. He likes classical
music and Nigerian music too. I cannot pin him down to one particular type of
music.
Does your father celebrate major
festive occasions with his children?
Because he spends a lot of time
thinking and turning things in his mind, he cherishes space and quiet moments.
He does host people during big occasion but it’s usually a small party.
For a man who writes, comments on
issues, and thinks of many things, social activities will definitely not be his
priority. Too many social activities will interrupt his mind and his work. But
he is becoming more relaxed, now that he is getting older.
Can you recall any particular moment
when you wished your dad was needed by your side?
There weren’t much of such periods
because he was not always around anyway. But when I went back to England at 15
and was in a boarding house in an English school, I encountered racism and
wished that he was there to tell those little guys that I have a great father.
I told myself that if they knew my father, they would not dare me, but he was
not there, so I had to live with that.
Did he force you to embrace his
beliefs?
He has described himself as a spiritual
person though not by religious means, but one thing he has never done is to
impose his religious views on his children. We all grew up with the freedom to
make a choice without his influence or interference.
You are a member of the National
Association of Seadogs and your father was one of the seven persons that
founded it. Did he encourage you to join the fraternity?
I was about 40 years old when I joined
the association. In fact, I joined because I was in London doing a lot of pro-democracy
activities and many of the people involved in this pro-democracy work were very
committed Seadogs and they kept asking why I did not join them. I told them I
didn’t really know much about it. They were shocked because they thought being
Soyinka’s son would offer me all I needed to know about the association.
I told
them that my father did not discuss it with me. So the pressure to join came
from outsiders not my father. My brother is not a member of the association.
There are a lot of misconceptions about Seadogs.
My first contact with them was when my
father was released from the prison after the civil war. I was about nine years
and there was a big party in our house inside UI, many Seadogs came, dancing
and singing and I asked him what the songs were for. He just told me they were
not for my ears.
What’s your take on your father’s love
for women?
I don’t think that’s the right word.
I’ve never known him to have more than one wife at a time. He never married
when he was still married to another woman.
How did the family react when your
father won the Nobel prize?
It was a great moment in our life. We
all travelled with him to Sweden where he received the award. It was an
indication that the world recognised my father’s effort through the years. It was
also an opportunity for me to meet many more important people in my father’s
life.
I think one of the main advantages for
me is that as his son, I don’t have to prove to people that I’m a honest and
reliable person.
Did he in anyway influence your being
appointed as a commissioner in Ogun State?
He had no hands in it and it was a
shock to him when he heard the news. I had no plan to serve in this
administration but I was thinking of getting involved at some stage and that
would mean coming back to the West. I was working in Abuja when I got the news
that Governor Ibikunle Amosun had appointed me. But I think being Soyinka’s son
would have erased all doubts about my readiness to put in my best.
Soyinka will be 80 soon. What are the
plans for his birthday celebration?
I know he does not like parties but
whether he likes it or not, it’s going to be a big party when he celebrates 80.
Your dad founded a political party. Are
you not surprised?
I have heard many people saying that Soyinka
wanted to become president of Nigeria and that was why he founded a political
party. It is not true. He founded that party to bring together people of like
minds around him, people who are real progressives. They wanted to win
political space and begin to introduce changes in the country.
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