Nigeria, Aug. 5 -- The hall wore a robe of expectations as minutes ticked towards the hour. The city was wrapped in the mood of impending festivity. Something was in the air. Road safety personnel and armed policemen were on duty - directing traffic and maintaining orderliness along Woji Road.

A walk into the event hall felt like an excursion into a carnival. From the urbane music equipment emitting jazzy tunes, to the symmetrically-arranged seats, the arty wall decorations, and the storybook backdrop, poetry was on display.

Outside, directly opposite the car park, a massive poster announcing the event in the making - the Annual Wole Soyinka Lecture with a life-size portrait of the literary legend - exhibited what was about to unfold. ...