Boma Achenimie 
Professor Wole Soyinka, the first sub-Saharan African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature has shared how the prestigious award had unintended consequences, intensifying both his isolation and the risks he faced.
In a recent interview with CNN’s Larry Madowo, Soyinka reflected on the personal toll the accolade has taken since he received it in 1986 for his cultural insights and the poetic overtones in his work.
Nobel Laureate explained that the global recognition expanded his responsibilities overnight, with heightened expectations placed upon him simply because he hailed from Africa.
At the same time, his involvement in Nigeria’s political landscape and refusal to compromise his beliefs put him in greater danger.
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“I felt isolated when I won the Nobel Laureate and much relieved when another African won it,”Soyinka said.
“So much was demanded of me overnight. At the same time, it exposes you more, especially in a society like ours.”
The 90-year-old playwright, poet, and activist also recounted how his opposition to Nigeria’s leadership, particularly under the brutal military rule of General Sani Abacha, endangered his life.
Soyinka recalled that Abacha harboured a strong desire to execute him, saying, “The most brutal dictator we ever had, Sani Abacha, would have gone to his grave a happy man if he hanged a Nobel laureate. As it was, he had to be content with hanging Ken Saro-Wiwa.”
It would be recalled that Soyinka escaped Nigeria in 1994 by crossing the Benin border on a motorcycle during Abacha’s regime, which had sentenced him to death in absentia.
He only returned to the country in 1999, after democracy was restored.
Reflecting on his personal milestones, Soyinka shared that birthdays hold little significance for him. “I don’t feel 90. I just take birthdays for granted,” he said.
“Usually, what I do on my birthdays is disappear into the forest. That is my normal way of spending birthdays.”
Soyinka’s reflections underscore the complexities of balancing international fame with personal convictions in a politically turbulent environment.
