The first wife of Prof Wole Soyinka, Olayide, in an interview with Punch revealed that the Nobel laureate hardly had time to be with the family
Where were you born?
I was born in Ibadan on May 19, 1938. I recently marked my 80th birthday in church but the real celebration was held last week. At my early age, my father, who was a civil servant, was transferred to Osogbo, so the family moved with him and I began education in the town. But soon after I started, we were back in Ibadan where I was enrolled at St James’ School, Oke-Bola.
I was there till primary four when the girls in the school were moved to Anglican Girls School, Oritamefa in Ibadan close to the University College Hospital, Ibadan. In 1951, I took entrance examination to St Anne’s Secondary School which was just beginning at the time. It was an amalgamation of pupils of Kudeti Girls School, CMS Girls School in Lagos and some of us who were fresh pupils. The pupils were placed in different classes and not just form one.
How would you describe Soyinka as a person that you were close to?
I don’t know how to describe him. Let me say that he was an interesting person. The school community had a high population of white people who loved art. He was into art, so he was always doing something that exposed him to the people.
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Okay, how would you describe him as a husband and father of your children?
He is more an away husband and father because he was everywhere. He was more away than around. I don’t know the person that has travelled more than Soyinka. He would attend writers’ conference, he would have meeting with people abroad and so on. I used to call him Peripatetic because he travelled a lot in furtherance of his art.
Did that put a burden on you?
We were raising a family and I had a job so I could not be going around with him. I was teaching in Ibadan at the time. I taught at St Theresa, Ahmadiyya Secondary school and so on. Then the detention era came.
How did you cope alone during the time when he was detained?
I could remember that tension between the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Akintola gave birth to many unfortunate events. But when you have such problem, search the wives of the major actors. Akintola replaced Awolowo as Premier of the old Western Region while Awolowo formed opposition at the centre. One woman could feel insecure that her husband was not given enough room to operate. Many people were killed as a result of the crisis that evolved.
Soyinka added his voice to it. He had sympathy for a party, so he was arrested and detained. This was before the military rule. It is always a burden when you marry an activist because you are always involved. There is a price to pay. When your husband is detained or goes on exile, you as a woman must keep the home front and act as the father and mother to the children.
Our first daughter was born in 1966 when the coup happened. We were in Lagos but had to come back to Ibadan because he got a job in UI. He then travelled to Enugu to see the late Odumegwu Ojukwu. There, Gen lYakubu Gowon pounced on him and detained him till 1970. It is always an affair full of drama. I made a lot of noise and wrote some things in the Daily Times. Adamu Ciroma was the editor then. Even though he was pro-government, he published my article on Soyinka.
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Were you threatened with arrest?
They were not like the late Sani Abacha. They did not come for me.
Were you allowed to visit him in detention?
Yes they did. One of the visits was in Lagos. The military government sent a car to take me to him. I told a cousin to drive behind us so that he would know where we were going. I think they knew the plot so they drove in a way to lose my cousin. The late Bisi Onabanjo, who was former Ogun State governor, was a friend of MD Yusuf. Yusuf was in charge of the police then.
Does any of your children take after their father?
Thankfully, none of them followed in his footstep.
Why did you say thankfully?
I have three girls but lost one of them five years ago. The first is a lawyer who served in the government of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan. It is funny because Soyinka and Obasanjo are not friends but Obasanjo made Soyinka’s daughter serve in his cabinet. I think Obasanjo was mature in doing that.
Whenever Femi Fani-Kayode wanted to abuse Soyinka for attacking Obasanjo, the president would remind him that his daughter was one of them. Now she is in the civil service.
My late daughter was active and strong in her opinions. She was in the performing arts but she started as a medical doctor. Her younger sister is a professor in New York while the last one, a boy, is in Lagos. My stepson was a commissioner in Governor Ibikunle Amosun government.