The oldest University in Nigeria~ University of Ibadan has explained the reason the management first of all requested that the Senate should allow them change names of some places in the institution which was eventually approved at a meeting in October 2017.
The senate approved the school’s request to name their Arts Theatre after Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Practical Theatre as Geoffrey Axworthy studio. The theatre was constructed in 1956 to provide a forum for performances and other forms of entertainment.
Here is why
Soyinka was the founding head when the school was transformed into a full Department of Theatre Arts in 1970.
Axworthy was the founding Director of the School of Drama of the university in 1962.
Axworthy used his position as the Director of the School of Drama to influence policy development and implementation. He promoted the relationship between the “town and the gown.”
Soyinka was a student at the University of Ibadan between 1952 and 1954 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.
According to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, the two played significant roles in the development of the department and the growth of performing arts in the country.
SOURCE:NAN