In the 2004 series of 'Reith Lectures', Wole Soyinka lectured on the theme of Climate of Fear.

Woyinka - a Nobel laureate, playwright, poet and political activist - was born on 13 July 1934 in Abeokuta, western Nigeria.

The author admits that his lifelong political activism has its roots in his childhood. He says "I'd listened to elders talking, and I used to read the newspapers on my father's desk. This was a period of anti-colonial fervour, so the entire anti-colonial training was something I imbibed quite early, even before the women's movement."

In 1986, Soyinka became the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Ironically, Soyinka says winning a Nobel Prize was something of a mixed blessing for him. "A lot of people find this difficult to believe, but for me it was just another prize, only bigger and more demanding on me in terms of what you give back, because everybody wants something as a result of that prize. It has such a prestige and such a hold on people's imagination in all corners and on all levels that you become the property of the world. I don't regret it, don't misunderstand me, but it is a mixed blessing."