Personal Life
Zulu Sofola
Zulu’s husband, Prof. Adeyemi Sofola
Zulu Sofola
Nwazuluwa Onuekwuke Sofola was born on June 22nd, 1935 in the former Bendel State to Nwaugbade Okwumabua and Chief Ogana Okwumabua who were Igbo from Issele-Uku, Aniocha North Local Government Area, presently in Delta State.
On June 4th, 1960, she married Professor J. Adeyemi Sofola, whom she met while she was a student in Washington, DC, USA. Most people who knew the couple would describe their marriage as one of legendary love. They had five children together and remained married for 35 years until her husband’s death on February 6th , 1995. Zulu Sofola passed away in Washington, DC, on September 5th, 1995, barely six months after her husband’s death.
Education
Zulu Sofola attended Federal Government Primary School in Asaba and the Baptist Girls High School in Agbor all in Delta State. Due to her outstanding performance in school, she was awarded a scholarship to complete her high school education in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Spending her adolescence and early womanhood in the US, she studied at Southern Baptist Seminary, earned her BA in English at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia in 1959. She obtained her MA in Drama (Play writing and Production) from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC in the year 1965. She returned to Nigeria in 1966, and became a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, where she also obtained a PhD in Theatre Arts (Tragic Theory) in 1977.
Career
Zulu (middle left) and Husband, Adeyemi Sofola (middle right) at the first Nigerian Independence Day celebration, 1960 in Washington, DC
Zulu Sofola (with head wrap) at the first International Women Playwright conference in Buffalo, NY, 1988
Zulu Sofola acting in the Wedlock of the Gods in 1972
Academic Career
- Department Head/ Senior Lecturer, Department of Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Nigeria (1983-1995)
- Senior Lecturer, Department of Performing Arts, University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1972- 1983)
- Lecturer & Coordinator, Adult Education Extra Mural Program, University of Ibadan (1968-1972)
- Teacher, Yejide Girls Grammar School, Ibadan, Nigeria (1968-1969)
- Lecturer (Part time), English Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1968-1969)
- Lecturer (Part time), Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia. USA (1965-1966)
Professional Accomplishments & Awards
- Recipient, Literary Award of the International Book Fair of the University of Ife, Nigeria
- Recipient, The World’s Who’s Who of Women in Education, the International Biographical Society, Cambridge, England
- Ford Foundation Fellow for PHD Research
- Prize for ‘Wedlock of the Gods‘, Black Culture, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA
- Recipient, Men& Women of Distinction, by The International Biographical Society, Cambridge, England
- Recipient, Fulbright Scholarship, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA (1988)
- ‘King Emene’, Translated into Norwegian and produced FOR Radio, Oslo
Plays
- 17 written in total
- 15 Published
- The Disturbed Peace of Christmas was the first produced play, staged at Yejide Grammar School, and published by Daystar Press, in Ibadan Nigeria (1968)
- Other manuscripts were discovered at the time of death
Other Notable Interests
- A devout Christian
- A keen Pianist and Musician
- Choir Director at all Soul’s Church, Bodija, Ibadan, Nigeria (1979-1983)
- All Soul’s Voices, a record album of sacred music was arranged and conducted by Zulu Sofola in 1984
- Choir Director, Mount Olive’s Church in Ilorin, Kwara State from 1983 until her death in 1995