Soyinka, flanked by his son, Dr Olaokun Soyinka, Ogun State Commissioner for Health and his younger brother, Professor Femi Soyinka and the President/Founder of the African Cancer Centre, at a press conference tagged: “Beyond Ebola and beyond reign of the silent killer,” in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to demystify the disease, by saying the disease was curable.
NOBEL Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Tuesday,took a bold step to reassure Nigerians that prostrate cancer, which is prevalent among elderly men, is curable and therefore should not be adjudged as death sentence.
Soyinka said he was was afflicted with prostrate cancer for 10 months and survived the killer disease. He said his decision to make the issue public was borne out of the moral obligation he felt he owed the society, especially as a member of the African Cancer Centre.
The literary icon spoke at a press conference tagged: “Beyond Ebola and beyond reign of the silent killer,” in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to demystify the disease, by saying the disease was curable.
He was flanked by his son, Dr Olaokun Soyinka, Ogun State Commissioner for Health and his younger brother, Professor Femi Soyinka and the President/Founder of the African Cancer Centre,
According to him, he was cured of the disease recently after he underwent treatment for 10 months.
He said, “In November, last year, I discovered I had cancer and have been treating it. I finished treatment on October 28 and that is why I have come out to tell you this.
“Many people start looking at you as if you are a ghost. No! It is not a death sentence and it is curable. I have undergone treatment and I even have a certificate and medal to show for it, but I don’t normally wear decorations.
“I want to use myself to encourage others to take whatever test available to you in our limited circumstances here and more importantly, to encourage those who are in charge of our health to take cancer menace seriously.”
The Nobel laureate counselled Nigerians, especially the womenfolk, to go for regular check and test for cancer, so as to tackle it before it was too late to manage.
“There are many ways of managing cancer, even diet. I have had to drink a lot of water and as many of you may know, water and I are not really friends,” he said.
