Kole Heyward-Rotimi, son of renowned playwright and academic, Ola Rotimi has made a call on the public to contribute to the Ola Rotimi Foundation’s vision to keep Ola Rotimi’s legacy alive. Ola Rotimi, the author of The Gods Are Not To Blame, Ovonramwen N’Ogbaisi, and several other acclaimed Nigerian literary works, passed on in 2000 at the age of 62.Shortly after his death, his children established a foundation, The Ola Rotimi Foundation to celebrate his legacy.
Recently, Kole relocated to Nigeria to oversee the running of the foundation. Although the foundation will have a US branch which will handle marketing in the US and outside of Nigeria, the Nigerian centre will take charge of development and co-ordination of the Foundation’s activities.
The foundation which is located in Ile-Ife outside the Obafemi Awolowo University where Ola Rotimi taught is committed to the promotion of African arts and culture through the staging of Rotimi’s plays and providing support to Nollywood. Other projects of the Foundation include a much-anticipated Pidgin English Dictionary, an artists’ database which will provide information for tourists on cultural events in Nigeria and an institute for the empowerment of artists.
The Foundation’s official launch and fundraiser will be at TerraKulture, Tiamiyu Savage, Victoria Island on August 20, 2010.
