Wale Ojo Wears Wole Soyinka’s Garb in ‘The Man Died

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Ferdinand  Ekechukwu

Renowned Nigerian-British actor, Wale Ojo has taken on the character of Wole Soyinka in an adaptation of ‘The Man Died’, a memoir of the famous writer’s prison experience initially published in 1972, two years after the Nigerian Civil War ended.  The book chronicles the author’s thoughts when the government held him as a political prisoner during the war in the late 1960s.

The award winning actor had acknowledged his role in the upcoming feature film, shortly after the release of the movie trailer recently. ‘The much anticipated ‘The Man Died’ will premiere in July 2024, coinciding with Wole Soyinka’s 90th birthday anniversary.  Speaking on the historic movie, Wale Ojo, said it’s an honour, and one of the high points of his career, to have played Wole Soyinka.

The Breadth of Life star in a post on social media wrote, “Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you ‘The Man Died’. It was an absolute honour to portray one of the greatest figures in literature that Nigeria has ever produced, as well as a man who has made a huge impact upon the politics and people of his generation.” He added that the movie is a “Must Watch”.

Produced by Femi Odugbemi and directed by Awam Amkpa for Zuri24 Media, the film stars Nollywood legends such as Sam Dede, Norbert Young, and Francis Onwochei, alongside a host of other brilliant actors – Edmond Enabe, and Segilola Ogidan. Others are Simileoluwa Hassan, Christiana Oshunniyi, and newcomer, Abraham Amkpa.

Shot mostly in the ancient city of Ibadan, Oyo State, ‘The Man Died’ is Wole Soyinka’s second book adaption. The Nobel Laureate’s ‘Death and the King’s Horseman,’ published in 1975, was similarly adapted in 2022 for Netflix film, Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman. The literary colossus made history as the first sub-Saharan African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.