Professor Wole Soyinka not dead
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka is not dead contrary to rumours going on in social media.
Hundreds of twitter users were shocked a while ago when it was claimed that Soyinka was dead.
But P.M. NEWS can authoritatively say that Soyinka is very much alive, hale and hearty.
powerofnaija spoke with the Nobel Laureate, who is right now in Los Angeles, United States of America, where he is promoting his new novel, ”Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth.”
The novel has been receiving positive reviews in the media all over the world.
Wole Soyinka, author of many books spanning all genres, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.
Just this afternoon, around 2.00pm Nigerian time, he gave a virtual opening address at the first JP Clark Memorial Symposium.
“I got a call from Nigeria,” he wrote. “Wole Soyinka died suddenly a few minutes ago. A terrible news.”
THE CLAIM: Wole Soyinka died on Monday.
VERIFICATION
To verify this news, FIJ examined the Twitter handle from where the news originated and placed calls to the close relatives of Professor Wole Soyinka.
THE TWITTER HANDLE
The Twitter handle from where the news originated bore the name of Abdulrazak Gurnah, the winner of the 2021 Nobel prize in literature. The user also used @GurnahAuthor as the account’s username to personify the identity of Professor Gurnah, an author. This made it easy for people to believe the social media handle was that of the Nobel laureate.
Examining the Twitter handle, FIJ found that it wasn’t verified, an unusual feature of a social media account belonging to an individual of Gurnah’s social standing. Also, six other unverified accounts were found portraying the identity of Gurnah.
SIX TWITTER ACCOUNTS BEARING PROFESSOR GURNAH’S NAME
| S/N | NAME | USERNAME | DATE CREATED |
| 1. | Abdulrazak Gurnah | @GurnahAuthor | August 2021 |
| 2. | Abdulrazak Gurnah | @AbdulGurnah | November 2016 |
| 3. | Abdulrazak Gurnah | @AuthorGurnah | September 2021 |
| 4. | Abdulrazak Gurnah | @GurnahAuthorr | October 2021 |
| 5. | Abdulrazak Gurnah | @JimmyMfila | January 2016 |
| 6. | ABDULRAZAK GURNAH | @GURNAX | October 2021 |
At the time of writing this report, several Twitter users had suggested that the account a hoax. The Twitter handle from where the news originated had also been changed to Pino Pignuti (IPignuti), from Abdulrazak Gurnah (@GurnahAuthor), and all tweets associated with it deleted.
THE FAMILY CONFIRMED WOLE SOYINKA IS ALIVE
In a chat with our reporter, Lola Shoneyin, a prominent Nigerian literary figure and Soyinka’s daughter-in-law, said the news was false.
“It’s not true,” she said.
Earlier, Shoneyin had posted on Twitter that Professor Abdulrazak Gurmah is not on Twitter.
During my short exchange with Prof Abdulrazak Gurmah a few minutes ago, he stated, ‘I am not a Twitter user,’” she wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
CONCLUSION
The Twitter handle bearing the name ‘Abdulrazak Gurnah’, with username ‘@GurnahAuthor’, was a hoax, and Gurnah did not break the news of the death of Soyinka’s death.
VERDICT: The news that Professor Wole Soyinka is dead is false.