Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has said Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, is among the rarest breed God has given to mankind.
The governor described the globally renowned writer as someone who has bestridden the earth with exceptional candour.
Abiodun poured encomiums on Soyinka as the Nobel Laureate celebrates his 88th birthday today.
Referring to Soyinka in two different tributes he personally wrote, Abiodun said: “Ogun is proud to have a son who studied a language; began to teach the owners of the language their own language, and invented words for the language, which the owners of the language have never heard of and now which have become regular lexicon of the, or if you like, their language.”
The governor also congratulated Professor Emeritus Theophilus Oladipo Ogunlesi, who celebrated his 99th birthday yesterday.
He said Prof. Ogunlesi trained many other professors and medical experts in Nigeria and abroad, describing him as a rare gift to the nation and the medical profession across the world.
Prof. Ogunlesi became a medical doctor in 1947 and the first Professor of Medicine in Nigeria in 1965.
He was born to a blacksmith father in Sagamu, Ogun State.
Abiodun eulogised both scholars as living legends, and two of the most iconic avuncular pathfinders and evergreen brand ambassadors not only for Ogun State but also Nigeria and Africa
He described them as flag bearers of banner of excellence for which Ogun is revered among the states in Nigeria.