"You do me great wrong, therefore to think that, like a rock in the middle of a lake, forever cooled by flowing waters, I do not know, and cannot know the sun's hotness that burns and dries up the open land."

"Two rams cannot drink in the same bucket at the same time. They will lock horns."

"Barber’s arm stops in mid-air. It trembles visibly. Man throws his arms up triumphantly. Starts scooping money into his pocket."

"Kolanut last long in the mouths of them who value it."

"I asked my new wife to stay with my brother until I thatch my roof. Soon she begins to put on weight, and she says he is kind and gentle. But slowly, the day breaks and her stomach reveal the secret"

"When the chameleon brings forth a child, is not that child expected to dance? As we have made you King, act as King."

"The hyena flirts with the hen, the hen is happy, not knowing that her death has come."

"A man who cannot control his wife is like a chief who cannot control his subjects."

"Now my people, when trees fall on trees, first the topmost must be removed."

"Have I been sleeping? If so, I am sick in the head: for only a madman would go to sleep with his roof on fire."

"Some people have started gathering in groups with people of their own kind. That too must stop"

"What's the man so proud about, fighting to advance British imperialism in Africa? And the two of you sitting there, encouraging such vulgar memories... From the day the White man set foot on our shores! First, Rum to our fathers: to confuse their minds. Then Rifles to shoot ourselves. The aftermath? Ruin. Slavery and external ruin!"

"Everything really depends on our vote…any vote cast for a politician tomorrow on the basis of sheer fatherhood by birth; or of brotherhood by clan; or sisterhood by religion, is your doom and my doom."

"My people. Children of our fathers. Sickness is like rain. Does the rain fall on one roof alone? No. Does it fall on one body and not on another? No. Whoever the rain sees, on him it rains. Does it not? It is the same with sickness."

"When a man's beard is on fire, he does not worry about whose axe is sharp."

"Until the rotten tooth is pulled out, the mouth must chew with caution."

"The horns cannot be too heavy for the head of the cow that must bear them."

"Apprentice barber is sitting on the stool. Nothing to do, he is leafing through the pages of some tattered newspapers…all of which report on Talks – all spices of Talks…On the bench at the other side of the shop the Master Barber himself lies full length, face heavenwards asleep…"

"He says it's not that we don't want to be alive."

"When the rain falls on the leopard, does it wash off its spots? Has the richness of kingly life washed off the love of our King for his people?"

"A madman is like a child, he speaks the truth without knowing it."

"If you rise too early the dew of life will soak you."

"If you think you can drum for my downfall, and hope that, drum will sound, then your head is not good."

"I clear the earth and another says the land belongs to his mother. I plant my seeds, and another says it belongs to his father. My seeds grow, And he says he worked hard during the planting season. Like the lazy python, he has always had eyes on my eggs………"

"Ovonramwen our Lord. A rare one that has no stain, nor does he has dirt. One whose character is as white as the white bird (enibokun)."

"Oba Ovonramwen, son of Adolo. Here in subdued glory with the white man's feathers fluttering like a peacock unsure of what weather of the day to spread its wonderful, colourful wings. Here I am, posing for the white man's jejers […..] He desired my empire and envied my position, and wanted my throne. […..] Here I am aboard the British yacht in leg irons."

"It is not changing into the lion that is hard, it is getting the tail of a lion"

"It is sickness that man can cure, not death"

"To get fully cured one needs patience. The moon moves slowly but by daybreak it crosses the sky."

"To be able to honor the legacy of Zulu Sofola and everything she’s meant to Nigeria and Africa and to bring that to our stage and enable our students to have the experience of working on a play like this is really important. The mission of the School of Dramatic Arts is to change the face of the entertainment industry, and that includes the stories that are told on our main stages."

"She (Zulu Sofola) was a mother in the true sense of the word and went beyond the call of duty as the head of our department. My personal connection with this woman makes me really proud and hungry to put her work here in this space for everybody to see."

"Professor Zulu Sofola, my elder sister, was a great lady. I was very little when she travelled overseas, so we never met until after a very long time. I first knew her through pictures. I must say that she laid a solid foundation for us, the younger ones. She actually took a lot from our parents; our parents were very hardworking and loving. They helped the community, training young people and providing solutions that were within their power."

"...a male-dominated world where the voice of women seemed unheard and under-appreciated, 'Zulu Sofola stepped forward and distinguished herself as a literary icon and an excellent dramatist."

"Sofola forges a link between her religion (Christianity) and her culture, seeking to interweave traditional practices with Christian doctrines. In the play (The Disturbed Peace of Christmas), Titi, who is playing the role of Mary for the community’s Christmas play is pregnant by Ayo, who is playing the role of Joseph. The entire Christmas programme for the community is threatened by the adolescent’s “sinful act” which in turn threatens the message of peace for the period as both families are initially tense and poise for conflict."

"Her (Sofola) plays are largely traditional and instructive and they tell tales of love and royalty through tragedies and the various experiences of human life in such a way that readers and audience alike are both entertained and informed in one scenario or the other."

"The essence of instituting the yearly Prof. Zulu Sofola‘s Day, which has commenced today in Issele-Uku, is not only to celebrate this erudite scholar, prolific writer and matriarch of Nigerian Theatre, but also to join her (Zulu Sofola) with other world’s great people, whose remarkable achievements have earned them special days when people and nations gather to recall and mark their immense contributions to humanity."

"Most of my writing questions the 'isms' that have been superimposed on the African people."

"I am motivated by human problems that confront us all. It depends on the spirit of a problem before I get the kind of inspiration which makes me want to write about it. Then I do my research."

"Music was my original interest. But when I was studying in the United States, I had to select another subject in addition to my main line. That was what landed me in drama. But I found that in dram I was also in music because I could produce plays with a musical background and I could use music for the mood. So it was through music that I got into writing."

"Education is one of the most important means to give women the knowledge,skills and self-confidence necessary for emancipation"

"Mere woman"

"Through the voices of women, Onwueme draws out universal themes of conflict. She uses the dramatic form to express an optimism for the future, for change and challenge to the repressive powers over people’s lives."

"In her work, Onwueme has shown daring in her exploration of ideas even if they lead to subjects and themes which may seem taboo. Onwueme is eminently a political dramatist, for power affects every other aspect of society. She explores these themes with a dazzling array of images and proverbs. Her drama and theater are a feast of music, mime, proverbs, and story-telling...[thus] Onwueme consolidates her position among the leading dramatists from Africa."

"Internationally renowned for her award-winning plays, Dr. Tess Onwueme is the literary soul-mate of Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. She is the first African woman dramatist to break into their ranks, so that What Mama Said, Tell it to Women, Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen, The Missing Face, The Desert Encroaches and the Reign of Wazobia become staples of international college and university curricular in the 21st century."

"People create social conditions and people can change them."

"Onwueme’s creative works continue to influence and generate significant interest around the world, as they are widely produced/staged, studied, taught, and written about in scholarly books, dissertations, theses, book chapters, journal articles, and international media. Onwueme’s works have a wide range of social, political, historical, cultural and environmental concerns of the masses in the global community today, with emphasis on women, youth in continental Africa and the Diaspora."

"Tess Onwueme's play is a spellbinding theatre work! It is written as if Dr. Onwueme is composing a symphonic work... Along with her other masterwork, The Missing Face [this drama] places Tess Onwueme in the ranks of Wole Soyinka, Athol Fugard, and Derek Walcott."

"I think there is no one of us who can boast of having telescopic eyes. But when you read, books become your telescopic eyes. You will see the whole world through the books you have been reading. And you become wiser. If you don’t read any book at all, you will rarely develop."

"when I wrote My Father’s Daughter, some people said it was too good to be true; but it couldn’t be too good to be true, because if you set your mind in good things, you will do good things."