Soyinka Reveals How He Almost Killed Himself At 10

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka turned 80 on Sunday, 13th July and he was celebrated by many for his life of selfless service to humanity.

Wole Soyinka

Reflecting on his life at 80, Soyinka said he would ended his life at the age of 10 out of curiosity, when he ignorantly pulled the trigger in his father’s dane gun.

Soyinka said, “I used to go with my father when he hunted. It was a mere air gun but was good enough for squirrels, the wild pigeon and occasional rabbit. I was just curious. One day I sat in the house’s frontage waiting for him to come out of his bedroom so I could accompany him.

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“I just felt there was something about that part of his gun which he used to pull. I tried the same motion and it just exploded; but he knew it was his fault so he never chided me. He knew he should never have left that gun loaded and he knew me enough to know that I had learnt that lesson and I didn’t need to be reminded of it. Of course, there was a sort of mutual standoff; I was not rebuked but he knew I was not going to do it again.”

According to Leadership report, Soyinka while reminiscing on his childhood years, said his mother was not comfortable with his bravery and sometimes cunning traits as a child as she reasoned that his over-confidence would harm him in the journey of life.

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“The ‘over-confidence’ that my mother used to complain of saved me and put me in trouble also," he added.

Source: Legit.ng