Soyinka@90: Film about arrest, detention to be screened next month

A documentary film based on the building on the University of Ibadan campus, where Prof Wole Soyinka was arrested in 1967 during the Nigeria Civil War is to premiere as part of activities marking the Nobel laureate’s 90^th birthday in July.

The film entitled Ebrohimie Road: A Museum of Memory is based on the building where the world renown poet, playwright, memoirist, essayist and polemicist, lived while he was a teacher at the premier tertiary institution.

It was the same bungalow located a few meters from the bustling main gate of the university campus, where Soyinka was arrested in 1967 on “espionage” charges for daring to cross to the Biafra Republic to dissuade then Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, leader of the secessionist group from going to war with the Federal Government.

The arrest led to his incarceration for 29 months by the government of Lt. General Yakubu Gowon. He released in October 1969, a few weeks before the war ended in 1970. Though he returned to the house, he did not return to his job at the Department of Theatre Arts, but instead proceeded on exile in 1971.

The film is slated as part of activities commemorating the 90^th birthday (July 13) anniversary of the Nobel laureate, the 110-minute documentary written and directed by the writer, culture researcher Kola Tubosun with the ace cinematographer, Tunde Kelani behind the camera, will first be screened on July 11, 2024 at the University of Lagos, where it will feature as the third item in a full-day scholarly event jointly organised by the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange, WSICE, and the Nigeria Academy of Letter, NAL. The theme of the event is ENI-OGUN: An Enduring Legacy, and it will aside the screening, feature a symposium, a dance performance and a reception.

Produced by Olongo Africa, Ebrohimie Road… which featured revealing interviews with immediate families, relatives, associates as well as comrades of Soyinka, will also be screened on July 20 at the WS90 celebration in London, jointly organised by the WSICE and The Africa Centre. It will thereafter move around other cultural and historical centres in Nigeria, parts of Europe, North and South America, as well as festivals across continents.

Confirmed and potential screening dates are:

• WSICE2024/WS90 Symposium, University of Lagos, Nigeria — (July 11, 2024). 4pm
• WSICE2024/WS90 celebration, Africa Centre, London (July 20, 2024) 3-5pm
• Africa Centre, New York (TBD)
• Centro Cultural Africano, Mexico (July 13, 2024)
• Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), Freedom Park, Lagos (July 14, 2024). 6pm
• Senior Staff Club, University of Ìbàdàn (TBD)
• Institute of African Studies, University of Ìbàdàn (TBD)
• Hutchinson Center, Harvard University, USA (September 2024)
• University of Leeds, UK (October, 2024)
• Lagos International Poetry Festival Lagos, Nigeria (October 24th – 27th, 2024)
• Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF/CORA), Freedom Park, Lagos (Nov 2024)