Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka led members of the Pyrates Confraternity in paying their final respects to literary scholar Biodun Jeyifo, who was laid to rest in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Jeyifo, who died on February 11 at the age of 80, was honoured by colleagues, former students and associates during a series of funeral rites held in his memory. Soyinka, a co-founder of the Pyrates Confraternity, on Wednesday, appeared in a video leading members of the group in their traditional white, red and black attire during the burial procession.
The burial took place at the Anglican Cemetery, St James the Great Cathedral Burial Ground in Ijokodo, Ibadan. Activities preceding the interment included an evening of tributes at the University of Ibadan and a lying in state attended by family members, friends and associates.
Fondly called Professor BJ, Jeyifo was widely respected for his work in African literature and postcolonial studies. He began his academic career at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, before teaching at several institutions abroad, including Cornell University and Harvard University in the United States.
Over the course of his career, he wrote extensively on African literature, drama and cultural theory. His scholarship examined the relationship between politics and literature, and he was regarded as one of the leading critics of modern African writing.
Jeyifo was also a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters and remained active in intellectual discourse long after his retirement from full time teaching.
