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Reno Omokri sparks Twitter debate for claiming Achebe, not Soyinka, deserves Nobel Prize

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Achebe Soyinka



Reno Omokri, a former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan sparked controversy on social media on Wednesday with his post claiming late literary icon Prof Chinua Achebe should have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and not Prof Wole Soyinka.

Omokri had taken to Twitter to rate Achebe’s literature works above Soyinka’s works.

He said he does not understand why the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Soyinka and not Achebe whom he claims his works stand out above Soyinka’s.

Omokri had tweeted:

Soyinka became the first African laureate after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.

His works are sometimes in a satirical style, and he has written several plays in a lighter vein. Prominent among some of his satirical works include ‘The Lion and the Jewel’, ‘The Trials of Brother Jero’. He also wrote some more serious plays, such as The Strong Breed, Kongi’s Harvest, among many other literary works.

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Soyinka is a major proponent of Nigerian democracy and government critic whose decades of political activism included periods of imprisonment and exile and has participated in several political groups.

Achebe, before his death at the age of 82, in March 2013, wrote several books, prominent among his works is his first novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ often considered his best, and adjudged the most widely read book in modern African.

The book sold more than 10m million copies around the world and has been published in 50 languages.

Omokri’s tweet has evoked series of reactions from Nigerians on Twitter.

As Twitter is presently abuzz with the debates, some Nigerians have taken sides while some have decided to be neutral, describing the two literary icons as brilliant writers who need no comparison.

 

See some of the reactions:


 

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