Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has recounted how he turned to solving mathematical problems to escape slumping into depression and having mental issues during the twenty-seven months he spent while in prison detention.

Speaking while academic laureates who did Ogun State proud in various academic competitions at his Kemta, Idi Aba home in Abeokuta, Ogun, the icon of literature, said despite disliking mathematics during his days in secondary school, the subject later turned to be his saving grace while under detention by military junta.

Professor Soyinka added, “I hated mathematics at school but I had a C. I hated my teachers who were very brilliant at mathematics and they forced it down our throats whether we like it or not”.