Tuesday, July 18, 2017

USA Africa Dialogue Series - ABIOLA FRANCIS IRELE (1936-2017) [ Irele as Accomplished Man of the World]


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: 'Joeckeshi@yahoo.com' joeckeshi@yahoo.com [NaijaObserver] <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>
Date: 17 July 2017 at 02:42
Subject: Re: ||NaijaObserver|| ABIOLA FRANCIS IRELE (1936-2017)
To: NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com
Cc: okonkwonetworks@googlegroups.com, Ndi Anambra <voiceofanambra@gmail.com>, africanworldforum@googlegroups.com


 

To the family and friends, my sincere condolences. When l served as the Consul General of Nigeria in Atlanta, he was of the educationists l reached out to and on one of my visits to Boston l believe, he invited me for dinner in a high class restaurant that l can't remember the name now. As we went through the menu, he kept advising on what l should settle for and l was glad l took his advise. But l came to admire him more when it was time for us to choose a  drink. As a diplomat who had served in three French speaking countries and had developed an extraordinary taste for good French wine, l thought l could make an impression. I was wrong. Here l met a master, an accomplished connoisseurs. As we discussed Nigeria and the opportunities lost, food and wine we eat and consumed two different bottles of the best wine l have ever tasted. Before l took my leave, l asked if he could write down for me the names of the drinks we took, he graciously gave me a list which  for years l took with me as l travelled round the world until l lost it moving around. As l read the well deserved tributes l remembered the few hours we shared over dinner. It was memorable. May his soul Rest In Peace. 

On 15 Jul 2017, at 12:08 PM, Okwukwe Ibiam o.ibiam@gmail.com [NaijaObserver] <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

One of the nation's foremost literary critics, Prof. Abiola Francis Irele, passed on in a Boston, United States hospital on July 1. The death of the versatile critic, polyglot, orator and academic has further depleted the ranks of the nation's renowned African literary theorists and critics.  Irele, who distinguished himself with his brilliant criticisms of both Anglophone and Francophone African literature, lived all his life teaching and researching African literature, both in Nigeria and overseas.

The demise of the literary guru has expectedly been greeted with eulogies from the academia and the literary world, all extolling his sterling qualities. In his tribute, the President of the Nigeria Academy of Letters, Prof. Olu Obafemi, described the deceased as a major library and repository of knowledge in global literature and the humanities. He affirmed that Irele was a groundbreaker in African literary criticism and human philosophy, whose contribution to the development of literature in Africa and explication of the concept of Negritude are unmatchable.  In the same vein, another notable literary scholar and critic, Prof. Biodun Jeyifo, observed that the centre of Irele's work and accomplishments as a scholar, teacher and critic revolved around Negritude. He also described the departed scholar as indisputably the world's greatest scholar on Negritude. 

To the renowned poet and scholar, Prof. Niyi Osundare, Irele had an overriding passion to discover, nurture and promote a new crop of writers after the phenomenal achievements of the Achebe-Soyinka-Clark-Okigbo generation.  He also testified that the deceased was admirably cosmopolitan, inspiringly literate, and had staunch hope in the future of African literature. Osundare pointed out that Irele was a scholar who constantly re-invented himself and his ideas; an ageless humanist with an outstanding combination of youthful energy and the seasoned wisdom that comes with age.

Prof. Femi Osofisan, the renowned scholar and dramatist, averred that Irele's "flippant exterior" and his "buoyant cultivation of the manners of the bon vivant," were deceptive, as they masked a deep inner core of acute insightful intelligence, which demanded no less perspicacity from his interlocutors and companions. Osofisan surmised that Irele was suave and cultured; polyvalent and cosmopolitan; blessed with lithe and nimble feet for dancing, an ear for languages, and a voice for mellifluous song.

Also, Prof. Chidi Maduka of the University of Port Harcourt, noted that Irele was a colossus in literary theory which he fondly cultivated to help him comparatively bring out the constants and variables running through the Anglophone and Francophone literatures of Africa and the Diaspora, especially in their various forms of encounter with Western imperialism institutionalised in slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism.

Born on May 22, 1936 in Ora, Edo State, Nigeria, Irele attended St. Gregory's College, Lagos from 1949 – 1954 and the Nigerian College of Arts, Ibadan, 1955-1957. He attended the University of Ibadan from 1957-1960 and got his Ph.D in French at the University of Paris, France, 1960-1966.        The deceased held teaching positions at the University of Ghana, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Ibadan and some universities abroad. He edited journals such as Black Orpheus in the 1960s and Presence Africaine. He was appointed Professor and Head of Department of Modern languages, University of Ibadan, in 1977.

Abiola Irele was, indeed, globally recognised as a doyen of African literature. His strong passion and deep commitment to his chosen profession are worthy of commendation to the younger generation of literary theorists and academics in the country.  We commiserate with his family, the literary community and the academia on the passage of this great literary/cultural activist. May God grant his creative soul eternal repose.

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