Prof Wole Soyinka
‘Wole Soyinka is alive when last I checked,’ says son
Ilemakin Soyinka, son of Nobel Prize Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has laughed off rumours of the death of his father, saying he is alive.
A purported tweet from an obviously fake Twitter account of recently-honoured 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Tanzanian writer, Abdulrazak Gurnar, had announced the passing of Prof Soyinka on Monday.
“I got a call from Nigeria. Wole Soyinka died suddenly a few minutes ago. A terrible news,” the post on Monday, October 11supposedly by Gurnar read.
The post garnered over 150 retweets and 250 likes in a short while, with some expressing their condolences.
However, Soyinka’s son, Ilemakin, laughed off the rumors, when he tweeted: “The rumour has been going round since last week. Soyinka is alive when last I checked,” he said.
The account already has 14,000 followers.
Reacting to the earlier by the Tanzanian author, Lola Shoneyin, a Nigerian literalist, in quoting the tweet, pointed out that Gurnah is not even Twitter user.
“During my short exchange with Prof Abdulrazak Gurnah a few minutes ago, he stated, I am not a Twitter user. Please take note,” the post reads.
As at press time, all tweets on the said account have been deleted.
