How Mathematics Saved Me From Insanity During 27-Month Detention – Soyinka

 

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, had revealed how mathematics saved him from insanity during 27-month in military detention.

Sharing his harrowing experience, the 87-year-old playwright said solving mathematical problems saved him from insanity while he was in the prison .

Soyinka disclosed this when he hosted academic laureates who did Ogun State proud in various academic competitions at his Kemta, Idi Aba residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The literary icon said although he disliked the subject while in secondary school, mathematics became his saving grace while he was incarcerated by a military junta.

He added, “I hated mathematics at school but I had a C. I hated my teachers who were very brilliant at mathematics and they forced it down our throats whether we like it or not.”

Soyinka advised the while addressing the laureates to prioritise any subject above others.

He commended Governor Dapo Abiodun administration over its efforts on education which he said was evident in the emergence of the academic laureates who had shown great excellence and exploits.