Nobel Laureate and literary icon Prof. Wole Soyinka has issued a solemn caution about the danger of forgetting history, saying societies that ignore their past risk sliding into tyranny and injustice.
Speaking as the guest lecturer at the Centenary Lecture of the Yoruba Tennis Club in Lagos, Soyinka said understanding and confronting history are essential for justice, cultural identity and national renewal.
“The future is not merely about liberating ourselves from the past. Genuine progress requires remembering, confronting and learning from past mistakes to avoid reproducing them in new forms,” he said, urging Nigerians to avoid repeating historical errors that have previously weakened society.
He explained that the Yoruba Tennis Club founded during earlier struggles for dignity and self-definition stands as a reminder of how history shapes identity and resistance.
Soyinka warned that tyranny doesn’t always arrive suddenly but can slowly take root when dissent is suppressed and societies fail to face historical wrongs.
“The failure to confront historical wrongs makes nations vulnerable to repeating cycles of abuse and domination,” he said, stressing that vigilance and historical awareness are bulwarks against oppression.
The Nobel laureate also reflected on Nigeria’s post-independence experience, noting that many leaders focused on replacing colonial rulers rather than dismantling the structures of injustice left behind — a mistake he believes continues to shape the nation’s challenges today.
