The nobel laureate and Literary guru, Prof Wole Soyinka, revealed today at a press conference which took place today at the June 12 cultural centre, Abeokuta Ogun state, that he’s a cancer survivor.
He said his appointment as a board member of the African Cancer Centre made him undergo a routine checkup last year which revealed he had cancer. He said he diagnosed with the disease in December 2013.
“It never occurred to me to do a checkup myself because men have their separate checkup like women and I have heard people who lost very dear ones, very close ones. They just told me, ‘Prof, we hope you’re having your own?’ And I told them I had one 10 years ago and he said, “No, no, do it regularly.” And by accident in December last year, I discovered that I had cancer.” Early detection is key, he also stated.
Although Prof Soyinka did not disclose the type of cancer he had or the extent it had grown but his son, Dr Olaokun Soyinka, who is the Commissioner for Health in Ogun state revealed that his dad was treated for ‘prostate cancer’.