Remembering Pius Adesanmi, A Scholar Of Distinction

By Tunde Olusunle  

I had two spells as a student at the University of Ilorin, abbreviated by us as Unilorin. True, our university started as a college under the University of Ibadan, (UI). We were in a hurry, however, to assert our independence and define our own corporate identity, soon after we were weaned off our mother’s breasts. Unilorin has since imprinted itself in Nigerian and global consciousness.

Late Prof Adesanmi 

The sheer quality of human resources it has availed the world, its groundbreaking ventures in research, teaching and mentoring, the holistic gamut of knowledge production and dissemination has since earned it a more fitting appellation. We call it the Better By Far citadel. My primary excursion through my alma mater ran from 1982 to 1985. The succeeding odyssey straddled 1987 to 1989. I studied English on both occasions, with a dominant slant for literature which I explored for my long essays and thesis respectively. 

Several years after my departure from Unilorin, the name “Pius Adesanmi” became recurring in the public and literary engagement circuits, in Nigeria and beyond. He was at once a poet, scholar, critic, satirist, columnist, author, maybe theorist as well. Biographical information about him, which I picked up in places, described him as a product of Unilorin and he was said to have studied French.

A Poolside Sit-Out With Niyi Osundare In Abuja

 By Tunde Olusunle

Typical of the extremely organised personality that he is, the multiple award-winning poet, Niyi Osundare, had already “served notice” of his imminent visit to Nigeria, weeks before he came. He had been invited by the organisers of the “Nigerian National Order of Merit,” (NNOM), to deliver a lecture at the 2022 edition of the Annual Forum of NNOM Laureates, in Abuja.

*Olusunle, Osundare and Nyitse

His presentation was titled “Poetry and the Human Voice”. The event was scheduled for Wednesday December 7, 2022, and the New Orleans, US-based Osundare needed to “forewarn” those of us who are his younger kith, that he was coming to our city. He does have a good number of we his mentees, inspired by his craft, in the Federal Capital Territory and it was going to be our pleasure to have him around.