Rufai Oseni faults renaming of National Theatre after Soyinka

By Omodele Adigun

Arise Television’s Morning Show anchor, Rufai Oseni, has criticised the renaming of the newly renovated National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos after Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka.

The infrastructure was renamed the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, in a ceremony marking Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary.

The extensive facelift, executed and financed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee, represents one of the boldest private-sector-led interventions in Nigeria’s cultural infrastructure.

The federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy provided policy oversight and stewardship, ensuring the facility’s rebirth as a national asset and launchpad for the country’s creative industries.

Tinubu, who in July 2024 renamed the edifice the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts in honour of the Nobel Laureate, led a distinguished gathering of state governors, members of the National Assembly, the diplomatic corps, captains of industry, academics, cultural ambassadors, and youth leaders to the ceremony.

However, in a post via his social media pages on Thursday, the broadcaster, faulted the move, describing it as improper.

He wrote, “The national theatre shouldn’t have been named after anyone, living or dead.

“Countries have their national theatre for a reason. They are not named after anyone!

“Nigeria and anyhowness.”

Earlier, Soyinka explained why he accepted the decision to rename the edifice after him.

Soyinka said he never believed the edifice could be renovated, noting that he had considered it irredeemable until the recent revamp by the Bankers’ Committee.

He admitted that he accepted the honour with mixed feelings, despite being a critic of past leaders who appropriated public monuments.

“I have to stand up in public and watch my name being put up as yet another appropriator. It just didn’t seem very well for me,” he said.