I’m a cancer survivor – Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has disclosed that he is a cancer survivor.
Soyinka made the disclosure during a press conference in Abeokuta held in collaboration with the Ogun State Ministry of Health in furtherance of local and international awareness against cancer.
In his speech, Soyinka revealed that he decided to make his experience public because of his moral obligation as a member of the African Cancer Centre and his responsibility as a survivor to help raise awareness through his personal experience.
“Many People feel it is a death sentence. Cancer is not a death sentence. It is curable. I have a medal to show that I survived cancer. It was discovered last year in November and I was totally cured of it in October this year. I wish to use my experience to encourage other people, especially blacks to take cancer seriously,” he said.
Soyinka further said funds are not being appropriated to help fight cancer in the country, noting that a substantial amount approved for the establishment of the African Cancer Centre in 2011 is yet to be released.
“We have enough funds to build all the needed Cancer Research and Treatment Centres in Nigeria. Government’s prompt release of such money will, however, make it easier to raise more funds from international partners,” he said.