NOBEL laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has lost his bid to become the next Oxford University's professor of poetry losing out to British poet Simon Armitage amid claims that the Nigerian icon is too old for the job.  

After the votes for the position were counted yesterday, Professor Armitage scored 1,221 votes to Professor Soyinka's 920. Professor Armitage, a popular poet and broadcaster, was backed by more names, including John Carey and Melvyn Bragg. 

Lord Bragg, the chancellor of the University of Leeds, had previously supported Professor Soyinka but later publicly switched his allegiance to Professor Armitage. Professor Soyinka, the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and a respected playwright and political activist, was an early favourite for the post after garnering by far the highest number of nominations. 

Last month, Lord Bragg threw a spanner in the works when he publicly withdrew his support for Professor Soyinka and switched allegiance to Professor Armitage, claiming that the Nobel laureate was too old and insufficiently committed to the job. He said Professor Soyinka, who turns 81 next month, has not written much poetry recently. 

"I now wonder how often he would bother to come to Oxford. Soyinka is a grand man and would regard it as a grand post and I also query his age,” Lord Bragg added. 

A 300-year-old elected post, the Oxford University's professor of poetry position is seen as the top academic poetry role in the UK. Exalted writers who have held the position in the past include Matthew Arnold and Seamus Heaney.