Literary Icon Biodun Jeyifo Dies At 80

Professor Emeritus Biodun Jeyifo, one of Nigeria’s foremost literary scholars and critics, is dead. The President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), Professor Andrew Haruna, announced his passing in a statement on Wednesday. Popularly known as Professor BJ, Jeyifo had a distinguished academic career at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, before relocating abroad. He later held dual academic appointments at Cornell University and Harvard University in the United States. He was widely respected for his scholarship in African literature and drama, as well as for his work in Marxist literary criticism. Over the decades, he was regarded as one of Africa’s most influential voices in postcolonial studies.