Meet the woman responsible for cutting off Ade Bantu’s 23-year old dreadlocks

Few days ago news went viral about Adegoke Odukoya, better known as Adé Bantu, who parted ways with his signature dreadlocks which he has been identified with since he was just 20 years old.

Having been with the locks for 23 years, Ade Bantu, who organises the much-talked about Afropolitan Vibes which holds regularly at Freedom Park as well as being a jude on the widely-followed MTN Project Fame West Africa reality show, recently ditched his locks although he admitted it was not an easy decision.

KIB officially brings you the woman who cut off the beloved dreadlocks of the Nigerian-German KORA Award winner.

40-year old Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet and author.  Her novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, a gripping and hilarious portrayal of a polygamous Nigerian family, was published in the UK in May 2009 and she has also published three volumes of poetry.

Married to Olaokun Soyinka, a medical doctor who is currently the Commissioner for Health in her native Ogun State, Lola’s husband, with whom she has four children, is the son of Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka.

Viewed as a passionate literary figure and outspoken feminist, Lola Shoneyin is the organiser of the annual Ake Book and Arts Festival which holds in Abeokuta, Ogun State every year, with the 2014 edition for November 18-22.

For Lola Shoneyin, cutting of the dreadlocks is as much a spiritual exercise as it is a physical effort and she is seen in one of the pictures praying by placing her two hands on Ade’s head before she started cutting the hair.