Professor Femi Soyinka was very kind and generous to me. He had no reason to be so nice to me. I knew him when I was a medical student at OAU. I didn’t have the privilege of being taught by him in the classroom. He had retired before I got to year 5 where he would have taught me Dermatology and Venerology.
I'm not sure I remember how I got to know him, but it likely started with me trying to write a biographical essay about him for IFEMED (the student-run medical journal at OAU), which was never published because I wasn't satisfied with it. He had given his Valedictory Lecture in 2002 soon after his retirement from OAU and I was assigned (because I was on the editorial board of IFEMED) to extract a short essay (to be published in IFEMED) from the lecture booklet. What I extracted was too long. A much shorter version did not and could not possibly do justice to his professional accomplishments and commitments. I wasn't happy with the much shorter version, so I let it go, regrettably!
But that encounter was the beginning of an ongoing relationship till I finished medical school. He told me many exciting stories of the early years of medical education in Nigeria and the early years of the HIV/AIDS response in Nigeria – he was actively involved in both as an academic, activist, and administrator. In retrospect, my friendship with Professor Femi Soyinka inspired how I approach a lot of the work that I do today as a public health academic. He taught me things I couldn't possibly have read elsewhere.
In early 2022, I wanted to write an essay for the Lancet that would involve some of the stories he had shared with me. I remembered that he had included some of the stories in his Valedictory Lecture. I don’t have my copy with me in Australia (where I now live and work) and I couldn't find a place to buy it online. But I found online that there was a hard copy of the Valedictory Lecture in the library of a University in the United States. I managed to get my University in Australia to get the University in the United States to send a hard copy of the lecture booklet to me, which then helped me complete the essay (for those who are interested, the essay is titled "How medical education holds back health equity” and here is a link to it:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01423-4/fulltext)
Professor Femi Soyinka invited me several times to his office in Ibadan just to talk, and once to his house in Kukumada. On all occasions, he covered my transportation fare and gave me additional money for my ‘pocket’. I still remember the day I visited his house. He got his son Ayodele Soyinka (who was then an OAU student) to drive me over from OAU. I remember that his daughter Atinuke Soyinka (who was a year ahead of me at OAU medical school) told me stories from their childhood when I was there in the house. I remember that the meal had chicken in it. When his wife Dr Kofo Soyinka asked me what part of the chicken I wanted, I said the neck. My answer surprised everyone. I should have asked for a better part! But I've always liked the neck because growing up, it was that part of the chicken with multiple bones that I could crush and eat successfully!
For a young medical student, getting to know and learn from such a renowned and towering figure as Professor Femi Soyinka so personally was such an important thing. I didn't fully appreciate its effects on me then, but looking back, it was such a formative experience for me.
I am grateful for the opportunity, and I was very sad to hear the news.
I wish the Soyinka family well.
Seye Abimbola