President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka on his 92nd birthday, calling him a globally celebrated playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, actor, singer, composer, documentarian and irrepressible advocate of good governance, in a statement released Sunday ahead of the milestone on Monday, July 13, 2026.
Exceptional individuals like Professor Soyinka do not come often in a generation, Tinubu said, men who illuminate the paths for humanity to follow across diverse endeavours, who are not afraid to go against convention, and who do not let the man die in the face of oppression and injustice. He recalled Soyinka’s 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first African laureate in that category, alongside honours including the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature, the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, the Anisfield Wolf Book Award for lifetime achievement and the Europe Theatre Prize’s special prize, as well as his decades long struggle against military dictatorship and his role in the June 12 movement, a fight Tinubu noted they shared directly. Today, I salute one of our nation’s living repositories of history, knowledge and courage, he said, that he is with us is a gift we will always treasure, thanking Soyinka for his undying faith in the Nigerian project and his wise counsel, and wishing him many more years in excellent health.
Separately on Sunday, Tinubu, in a release from Adviser on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, marked the 40th birthday of Cavista Holdings Director of Strategy Kabir Shagaya, commending his contributions to enterprise development, strategic investment, innovation and national development. The president said Shagaya’s leadership at Cavista Holdings has helped shape investment in agriculture, technology, hospitality and financial services while advancing initiatives that strengthen value chains, improve livelihoods and promote sustainable development, and acknowledged his record in public service and entrepreneurship, including work on investment promotion, climate resilience and humanitarian interventions, recalling that Shagaya’s logistics expertise was among the private sector capabilities deployed to support Nigeria’s response to the Ebola outbreak. Tinubu also commended TAG Africa’s work under Shagaya’s leadership in partnering with governments, institutions and the private sector to deliver social impact initiatives, including distributing relief materials to vulnerable communities nationwide, and prayed for his continued health, wisdom and strength as he marked the milestone.
