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| - AN X user, @AfonjaSlayer, has posted an image of the Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, alongside a claim that he is now a hunter in Ogun State.
He posted the image with a caption that read:
“Do you all remember this man, Wole Soyinka? He’s now a hunter in Ogun State.”
The post has garnered over 15,000 views with more than 200 reposts and over 800 likes as of February 14, 2025.
READ: How false attributions on social media contribute to election misinformation
CLAIM
Image shows Wole Soyinka as a hunter in Ogun State.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the original image has been doctored to portray Soyinka as a hunter.
Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, poet, essayist, and activist, widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary figures. Born on July 13, 1934, in Abeokuta, Nigeria, he gained international recognition for his works that critique political oppression, corruption, and societal injustice. In 1986, he became the first Black African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Wole Soyinka is best known as a playwright. Alongside his literary career, he has also worked as an actor and in theaters in Nigeria and Great Britain. His works also include poetry, novels, and essays. Soyinka writes in English, but his works are rooted in his native Nigeria and the Yoruba culture, with its legends, tales, and traditions. His writing also includes influences from Western traditions—from classical tragedies to modernist drama.
His works, including Death and the King’s Horseman, The Trials of Brother Jero, and Ake: The Years of Childhood, blend Yoruba traditions with modern themes, exploring power, oppression, and societal flaws.
Beyond literature, Soyinka has been a critic of authoritarianism, speaking out against military rule and corruption in Nigeria. His activism led to his imprisonment during the Nigerian Civil War and exile under the late General Sani Abacha-led military regime in Nigeria.
When our fact-checker subjected the image to a Google Reverse Image search, the results show that the photo first appeared on the internet in 2014. It was initially shared on Nairaland, an online forum, with a caption that read: “(PHOTOS) Funny pic of Wole Soyinka hunting.”
In 2016, a news blog, OrijoReporter, also used the same image in a report titled: “I TRUST SOYINKA AS AN APARO HUNTER – OBASANJO.” However, the report did not confirm the authenticity of the image; we couldn’t independently confirmed the accuracy of that report itself either.
ALSO READ: Doctored image of Tinubu barracks circulates online
But an analysis of the image shows that there are few blurs around Soyinka’s neck – a sign that the image has been digitally altered.
In addition, our fact-checker was able to trace the source of the original image using TinEye even though the website that published it is no longer accessible online. Our fact-checker obtained a low graphic version of the photo which shows that the person in the image is actually not Wole Soyinka.
Soyinka continues to be honoured for his significant contributions to literature and culture. He continues to be commenting on contemporary issues bordering on democracy, justice, and freedom of expression in the country and his works are being studied worldwide for their literary and political impact.
In September 2021, Soyinka published Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, his first novel in almost 50 years, and described in the Financial Times as “a brutally satirical look at power and corruption in Nigeria, told in the form of a whodunnit involving three university friends.”
It is also noteworthy to state that Soyinka had previously taught in many universities locally and abroad, starting from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Cornell University, Emory University, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA, among others.
In conclusion, there’s no credible and available public record showing that he has ventured into hunting as of the time of filing this fact-check.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the image shows Wole Soyinka as a hunter in Ogun State is MISLEADING. The original image has been online since 2014 and it has been digitally altered to portray Soyinka as a local hunter.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
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