The Digest:
Emeritus Professor Biodun Jeyifo, one of Nigeria's foremost scholars of literature and culture, has died at the age of 80. His passing was announced on Wednesday by the Nigerian Academy of Letters, whose president, Andrew Haruna, described it as a profound loss to Nigeria and the global intellectual community. Born in Ibadan on January 5, 1946, Jeyifo earned a first-class degree in English from the University of Ibadan before completing a doctorate at New York University. He taught at Obafemi Awolowo University before holding senior academic positions at Cornell and Harvard, where he served as professor emeritus of African and African American Studies. A former national president of ASUU, Jeyifo, was widely regarded as the foremost interpreter of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka's works. An international symposium celebrated his 80th birthday just weeks ago.
Key Points:
- His passing deprives Nigeria and the African literary world of one of its most incisive critical minds.
- It leaves a void in the intellectual tradition that bridges postcolonial theory, Marxist criticism, and African cultural studies.
- Generations of students and scholars lose a mentor, while his extensive body of work remains an enduring legacy.
- Jeyifo's dual legacy as both a towering academic and a principled unionist remains unparalleled in Nigerian letters.
- His death so soon after his 80th birthday symposium adds poignancy to what became an early valedictory celebration.
Jeyifo's scholarship, activism, and mentorship have left an indelible mark on African literary studies and Nigeria's intellectual history.
Sources: TheCable, Nigerian Academy of Letters
