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Tag: Ayo Banjo

  • We must invest in books for Nigeria to develop, says don

    We must invest in books for Nigeria to develop, says don

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    • Soyinka, others honour The Nation man Jeyifo at 70

    A revered don, Prof Dan Izevbaye, has said for Nigeria to develop as a nation, scholars and stakeholders must invest more in books.

    He spoke yesterday at a gathering of literary giants in Ibadan to honour one of their own, Prof Biodun Jeyifo, who celebrated his 70th birthday.

    Prof Jeyifo, a columnist with The Nation, teaches abroad.

    Many in the audience described the celebrant as a renowned scholar, teacher and a great writer.

    The event served as an opportunity for the audience to discuss the state of the literary world.

    According to him, the advent of Internet has caused a lot of damage to education, adding that it has gradually displaced the ‘pen and paper’, especially by the electronic media.

    Saying that social change is the most important thing happening in Africa in recent times, Izevbaye explained that modernisation does not happen by itself but imposed.

    He said “Formal education was introduced by the West and so its product, assumption and idea are not neutral. They have connection with colonial society and age. One of the problems of education is identity. We are forced into finding our identity as Africans.

    “I spent the last 10 years teaching undergraduates most of who are from middle class homes. These are the future leaders of Nigeria. I have one of the things I have concluded is the problem of identity. Where does it come from? Parents who don’t speak Nigerian language even though they are skilled in it. That is the impression I have about the class I taught.

    “The proverbial ‘black is beautiful’ is dead as women now wear wigs while their male counterparts wear shirts and trousers. Though there is no problem with it but it is one of the things I called problem of identity. They are children of globalisation.

    “Internet contains viruses; not the virus associated with computer. It is American and when it was given to the rest of the world, it is a Greek gift,” he noted.

    The don decried the stoppage of teaching of history in schools, defining Boko Haram insurgency as “the confrontation between the West and the Middle East but it is being fought on Nigeria soil. Africa doesn’t feature.”

    He continued: “When colonialism failed, the country had an opportunity to re-invent itself, the universities took over the assumption and ideas of colonial universities.

    “There are fine bookshops but where are people to buy the books? Are there not scholars? Are there not people who want to buy? Are they not people who want to buy and present books as gift?

    “Scholars and stakeholders, library, publishers and others should give grants to the researchers of literature. The media also has an educative influence of modernising people.”

    In his remarks, Dr Lekan Are said parents must ensure that the next generation learns to speak their native languages, “if our language dies, we are gone. Let’s teach our children how to speak our language.

    He said that contrary to misconception about Prof Wole Soyinka’s confraternity,

    “Soyinka did not start cultism. Let us maintain our culture.”

    The high point of the event was when Prof Soyinka stood up to speak. To the surprise of those who had sat quietly to listen to the Nobel laureate, he brought out a bag containing what people thought to be books.

    He brought out a bottle of white wine, saying he had been looking for an occasion to present it to someone special.

    Soyinka later brought out a jar of imported coffee and a compact disc- a recording of poems titled Mandeland.

    The celebrant was happy.

    Soyinka said:  “How BJ has done it without being jailed, I don’t know it. Anybody who still sees pirates as cultists should go have his head examined by real cultists.

    Speaking after, the elated celebrant said the last he travelled was a month ago.

    “For the first time in my life, I became superstitious. I did not want to travel. I said I don’t want to travel before I make it to 70. I have celebrated just two birthdays in my life; my 60th and this one.

    “I write the column to simplify the complexities. It has been a struggle for me to combine simplicity with profundity. Achebe was simple. It is a rare gift. The demand for social justice for our people is urgent. There is a very alarming dimension to the present dispensation in the country.

    “Change will come to our country, poverty will be substantially reduced but only if we pay attention to the demands of complexities.

    The chairman of The Nation’s editorial board, Sam Omatseye, noted that the celebrant has been the voice of the masses.

    “He has been able to de-eliticised his written works both in prose and the arts. Interestingly his language is elitist from the point of view of content but he has helped to de-elititicise his works,” he said.

    At the event were Emeriti Profs JP Clark, Ayo Banjo and Ayo Bamgbose, Prof Femi Osofisan, Prof Adebayo Williams, Prof Ropo Sekoni, Prof Molara Ogundipe, UI Vice-Chancellor, Prof Idowu Olayinka and others.

     

  • No winner for 2015 NLNG’s Literature prize

    No winner for 2015 NLNG’s Literature prize

    No winner has emerged for this year’s Nigeria Prize for Literature (NPL) sponsored by Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).
    Chairman, Advisory Board for the prize, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo declared that none of the 109 entries met the standard set for the covetous literary laurel.
    It would be recalled that, in 2004 and 2009, there was no winner for the prize in prose and poetry respectively.
    Speaking in Lagos on Friday, Banjo said the decision was reached after a thorough review of the entries by the panel of judges led by Prof. Uwemedimo Enobong Iwoketok.
    “Language plays a major role in literary production. Creative writers are normally expected to pay special attention to the use of language and aesthetics. The Prize demands stylistic excellence as manifested through an original and authoritative voice, narrative coherence and technically accurate writing.
    “Unfortunately, the entries this year fall short of this expectation as each book was found to manifest incompetence in the use of language. Many of them showed very little or no evidence of good editing,” he said.
    According to the jury, the entries were judged based on editorial excellence, creativity and story plot.
    Iwoketok said children’s literature is yet to be fully addressed and explored, urging government, writers and educationists to take proactive steps in ensuring the genre is developed.
    “A disturbingly large number of entries were dropped at the initial stage of short-listing because of grave editing and publishing errors.”
    Apparently disappointed by the non-emergence of a winner, the international consultant for the prize, Prof. Kim Reynolds of the Newcastle University, United Kingdom, advised writers in the genre to pay attention to visual creativity along with understanding the minds of the children.
    “The entries lack the lyricism, vision, and authority to become classics that will be handed down from generation to generation and that have the potential to reach out across cultures,” Reynolds said.
    In the bid of improving standard of children’s literature that would be published in the future, General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke said the organisation plans to invest in a capacity building workshop on children’s literature.
    He said: “NLNG is determined to promote excellence by investing the prize money, which would have been won, back into the process for a creative writing workshop for Nigerian writers of children’s literature. The proceedings would be collated, published for reference and guidance.”
    Other members of the panel of judges are Prof. Charles Bodunde of the University of Ilorin, and the University of Maiduguri’s Dr. Razinat Mohammed. Other members of the Banjo-led board are Prof Ben Elugbe and Jerry Agada.

  • Professor Ayo Banjo at 80

    Since the appointment of Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike as first African Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, the position of the vice chancellorship of this premier university has been greatly sought after by distinguished academics. To be appointed vice chancellor of this university therefore, is a mark of honour and a demonstration of the high esteem in which the occupant of the vice chancellorship of the University of Ibadan is held. Professor Ayo Banjo’s appointment as vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan is therefore a great achievement. He brought to this position, dignity, honesty, competence, distinction and administrative savoire-faire fairness and firmness.

    At 80, it is my pleasure on behalf of many distinguished Nigerians who have passed through the portals of the great university to celebrate him publicly. Many Nigerians are familiar with the name of Ayo Banjo as an author of secondary school textbooks on English Grammar. The name Banjo is apparently quite common among the Ijebu sub-nationality of the Yoruba nation. The other well-known Banjos are associated with the exploits of that dreamer Colonel Victor Banjo, a Yoruba officer who fought on the side of Biafra during the Nigerian civil war and who was judicially murdered by Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegu-Ojukwu who accused him of treason. This other Banjo is not related to Ayo Banjo.

    I got close to Professor Ayo Banjo as a neighbour but I have always known him over the years as a lecturer, Professor, Dean of Arts and Vice Chancellor of the premier University of Ibadan. I have also known his family even if from a distance. When I was in the sixth form in Ibadan Grammar school, Professor Ayo Banjo’s father was the principal of St. Luke’s College, a neighbouring teachers’ college in Ibadan. Canon Banjo as we knew him, was a distinguished man, a teacher and at one time, a member of parliament in Ibadan. I also know some of Professor Banjo’s siblings like Gboyega, Kunle who was in Ibadan Grammar School the same time I was there and their eldest brother, who practiced general medicine successfully in Ibadan. It is not out of place to use the hackneyed phrase of Professor Banjo being an “illustrious son of an illustrious father”. It will not be totally incorrect to say that Professor Banjo was born with a silver spoon in his mouth because his father was a highly educated man and by the standards of those days of yore, he was a man of means. Professor Banjo had his secondary education in Igbobi College of which he is very proud. Igbobi shared with Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti my own alma mater links in the past especially with missionary teachers going to and from our two schools. So I can guess what kind of academic and moral upbringing Professor Banjo would have had in Igbobi College of those days. This was a college far removed from the hustle and bustle of colonial Lagos and was located at the outskirts of the town but of course, today, the college is completely sandwiched within the growing metropolis of Lagos. Igbobi College of Professor Banjo’s time was a very cosmopolitan college of young people from different ethnic backgrounds cohabiting in the various dormitories. The impression this would have had on Professor Banjo must have been very fundamental to his growth and development as a true Nigerian without ethnic hang-ups. After leaving Igbobi College and bearing in mind, his family background of economic sufficiency if not affluence, it was natural for him to want to go abroad for further studies, a desire which his father adequately met.This made it possible for Professor Banjo to be educated abroad before coming back home to work and to do research that earned him a PhD of Ibadan University in English. After his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, Professor Banjo taught English at Government College, Ughelli in what then was in the heartland of the Mid-west region an experience and opportunity which can only be dreamt of and dreaded today.The National Youth Service for young graduate does superficially but unsatisfactorily offer Nigerians to experience cultures outside their area of birth and comfort. But in the days of young Ayo Banjo it was a routine affair because the Western region and the other two regions, Northern and Eastern regions were agglomeration of different nationalities and tribes and our leaders were then genuinely building a nation, albeit with the help of the colonial officials out of the multitudinous ethnic groups embedded in the belly of the geographical expression known as the Nigerian state. We can only look back nowadays to that golden era when things were not as complicated as they are today and when the state was not dying from a metastasised corruption that is eating at the very fabric of the state.

    When I was dean of the college of humanities, of Redeemer’s University, Mowe in Ogun State, I had the honour of inviting Professor Ayo Banjo to deliver our maiden college lecture in 2006. We still talk about the erudition and scholarship of that lecture up till today. Humility comes naturally to Professor Banjo and for a man of his calibre and distinction, this ability of his can be very overwhelming to subordinates and lesser people. As a neighbour, he is involved in community association for the security of our neighbourhood.In all our meetings, he never allows his status to overwhelm less privileged and less cerebrally and materially endowed members of this association.  Whenever there is a misunderstanding in our neighbourhood, Professor Ayo Banjo, the Vicar’s son is always a peacemaker and would go to any length to reconcile those who are at logger heads against each other.

    He is an author and a good speaker who has been invited to several fora to present lectures or positions on given problems that the university community in Nigeria usually face. He has been a true scholar and has supervised several students who are now professors and has thus replicated himself so that his likes will always be found in the citadels of learning in Nigeria. Apart from being Vice-Chancellor of University of Ibadan, he has also served as Pro-Chancellor not once but twice of universities in Nigeria. He has also been involved with moderating the demands for higher salaries and better conditions of service by fellow academics because he enjoys both the trust of his colleagues and those who are at the helm of affairs of our country. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Ibadan and for all his services and academic achievements, a grateful nation honoured him with the highest academic accolade of granting him the national merit (NNOM). Professor Banjo can never be forgotten because of his transparency, his intellect, his humble demeanour and his intelligence which manifest at all times in whatever assignment he is given. Professor Ayo Banjo and other colleagues of his particularly those at the highest level of humanistic studies established the Nigerian Academy of Letters to co-ordinate the efforts and exertion of people in the liberal arts in their effort to put Nigerian scholarship in the global arena. He is a foundation member and fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. His effort has brought to the Academy, distinction and resources without which it would have been difficult for the academy to reach its present height of development and national recognition. The Academy’s membership and fellowship are now much desired by scholars in various disciplines in the liberal arts at home and by Nigerian scholars in the black diaspora. But for Professors Ayo Banjo, Ayo Bamgbose, J.F. Ade-Ajayi, Tekena Tamuno, Munzali Jibril, Tunji Oloruntimehin, Segun Odunuga and others, the Academy would not have come into existence and provide a paradigm for others to follow.

    It is our hope that the current and future generations would learn from people like Professor Banjo or else, our nation has no hope. It is a pleasure and privilege for me to have the opportunity to celebrate this great man of letters, this Renaissance man, this man of distinction, this amiable and jolly good fellow.

  • Ayo Banjo’s day of honour

    Ayo Banjo’s day of honour

    An Evening with Prof Ayo Banjo at 80. So the ceremony was called by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG). It was all to celebrate the erudite professor who joined the octogenarian club this year. It was a heart-warming moment for all as distinguished friends, colleagues, former students, family members and admirers thronged the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos to celebrate him with fond memories. At 80, the professor is thankful, especially for one of the lucky things in his life, reports Evelyn Osagie.

     

    As one walked into the Orchid hall of the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, three professors stood talking about their former teacher – the erudite Emeritus Prof Ladipo Ayodeji Banjo, whom they had come to honour that evening. They called him “humble”, “a man of integrity who is not only tall in stature but also in wisdom and his quest for excellence” and more.

    Oblivious of their discussion, their teacher waved and smiled at them from the far end of the hall, they bowed and smiled back and added “a man of sunny smiles”to his many admirable qualities.

    “He is a good teacher and very good Christian. I am the first PhD student produced by Banjo in 1974; I was 28 years old then. He is always willing to fight for the underdog; absolutely accessible and very affable. His steadfastness and accomplishment is an inspiration to us,” said Prof Festus Adesanoye of the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State.

    For the President of the Academy of Science, Prof Oyewale Tomori, Prof Banjo is his role model. “Without him most of us would not be where we are today. He is a giant on whose shoulders we stood to see further off. Prof taught me in Government College, Ughelli, in Class Four in 1961/62. He was my English teacher then; and later became my VC in 1980 when I was Head of the Department of Virology. He is very discipline. And he has not changed from the person I knew him to be back then.”

    It was no school reunion, but An Evening with Prof Ayo Banjo at 80 organised by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG). The event was a night of reflection and reminiscences in which eggheads from across the country, many, who were his former classmates and students, friends, colleagues, admirers and family gathered to celebrate him. Guests were treated to cocktail, classical music and popular highlife and Afrobeat tunes by MUSON duet and Top life Band, with poetic tributes by 2013 NLNG Prize for Literature winner, Tade Irapade, who read On Turning 80 from Derek Walcott’s collection entitled White Egrets and Tunde Onikoye.

    It was his night of glory and the professor beamed with smiles as guests took turns to share their fond memories of him. In their words, one could see a man committed to his God, family, friends and nation.

    Prof Banjo, who is  currently the chairman of the Nigerian Prize for Literature Advisory Board that is sponsored by the NLNG, is said to be a foresighted academic, administrator with over 60 years of service in the educational sector.

    “This is a day to honour a man who symbolises what Nigeria should be,” began the Managing Director, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG), Mr Babs Omotowa as he welcomed the guests. “He is a man of integrity; a man that has put in so much for this country, not just in education. He was such a colossus.  Prof… tonight is your night; and we are so proud of you. You are a role model to us and we have learnt a lot from you; you have mentored us. I think you are the kind of Nigerian we need to celebrate. I join me in appreciating Prof tonight!”

    Although Prof Banjo’s birthday was initially on May 2, he and his family had planned to mark the day in the month of July. On hearing it, NLNG said, it seized the occasion to celebrate the man and his contributions to education and literature.

    If NLNG were a human, according to NLNG General Manager, External Relations, Mr Kudo Eresia-Eke, it would like to be formed with the qualities for Prof Banjo. “At NLNG, Prof Banjo shows us the way and we try to follow. We look to a new Nigeria, that is, if we were to personify our country, it would look like Ayo Banjo. He is a man of honour, who has put in so much for this country.”

    Born on 1934 into the family of late Pa. Reverend Samuel Ayodele Banjo, an educationist and teacher at St. Andrew Primary School, Oyo town, Prof Banjo hails from Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State. Aside his academic and professional qualifications, his contributions towards the development of the sector has also earned him the several recognitions and awards such as Justice of the Peace (JP), Oyo State; Commander of the order of the Niger (CON); Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM); Fellow and President of the Nigeria Academy of Letters; Fellow of the Nigeria English Studies Association and Chairman, Sigma Foundation.

    Ever wondered what could be one of the lucky things in the life of an 80 year-old erudite professor? In the words of Emeritus Prof Banjo:  “One of the lucky things in my life is that I have a wonderful family and that I have a brother and a sister who are very supportive; and I couldn’t ask for a better children and the larger family – my cousins. You have seen the way they rally round me – this is how they are and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

    He is married to Mrs Alice Banjo, retired a matron from the University Teaching Hospital (UCH) that hails from Anambra State and their marriage is blessed with four children. Although his wife, who is presently in London, was absent, three of his children were at the event along with his junior brother, Gboyega Banjo; Mr and Mrs Babs Okuyemi and cousins. His first son, Tunde described his father, thus: “He places a lot of emphasis on excellence”. For his daughter, Ayoyinka, the fond memories of her father were those years of travelling with him.

    His close friends – Emeritus Prof John Pepper Clark; past President, Nigerian Academy of Letters, Emeritus Prof Ayo Bamgbose; Prof Ladipo Wusu; Prof Isaac Jide Desalu; the Executive Chairman, Safari Books Ltd, Chief Joop Berkhout and his son Ernest and those from Igbobi College – were also there to celebrate him.

    His close friend, Prof Ayo Bamgbose praised the celebrator’s loyalty to his friends –especially his friends from school. “He set a good example for others to follow.”

    Prof Wusu, who is a former classmate of the celebrator, said he possesses the attributes of a good leader. “I fondly call him LAB. He is very humble. He has all the attributes of a good leader – he was discipline, just like Awolowo was; focus, had vision; led by example and did that which is right. And as he grew older, those attributes matured like wine.  I thanked the Lord that he is my egbon (senior). We attended class in primary, secondary in Igbobi College – his bed was next to mine –and the University of Glasgow, Scotland.”

    UI Vice-Chancellor, Prof Isaac Adewole, referred him as “My referee”. Ajayi Crowther University VC, Prof Kolawole Jaiyeoba praised Banjo’s respect towards his younger colleagues, saying he is an astute administrator. He said: “He was VC when I joined UI and when I was VC of Ajayi Crowther University, he was Pro-Chancellor. He is patience to things grow and a fine a gentleman. He is not only tall in stature but he also tall in wisdom and quest for excellence.”

    Responding to the entire encomium showered on him, the celebrator said: “I am short of words and it is funny for somebody who has made a living out of talking. I really do not know what to say. I am really speechless to see that the little I have been able to do is being appreciated. NLNG has really surprised bowed me out tonight.” He praised the efforts of the Gas Company in promoting science and literature in the country, while calling on others to borrow a leaf from NLNG’s example.

    Also in attendance were UI Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof Idowu Olayinka;  a member of NLNG Prize literary committee, Prof Akachi Ezeigbo; NLNG Advisory Board member, Prof Ben Elugbe; Tade Irapade; former Presidents of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr Jerry Agada, who is also a member of the advisory board, and Dr Wale Okediran; CORA executives, Mr Jahman Anikulapo, who is a former student of the celebrator and Mr Toyin Akinosho; his former students: President of the Academy of Science, Prof Oyewale Tomori: Emeritus Prof Femi Osofisan; Prof Festus Adesanoye; Prof Akanji Nasiru and ace filmammaker Tunde Kelani.

  • Conference releases list of committees

    Conference releases list of committees

    •Delegate slumps

    The list of Committees for the National conference was released yesterday with no youth delegate represented in the Committee for devolution of power.

    However, delegates could not comment on the list as a result of debate on the abdication of over a hundred female students in Borno State on Monday night.

    The Committee is made up of elder statesmen like Malam Tanko Yakasai, former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, activist Annkio Briggs, former governor, Victor Attah and Prof. Jubrin Aminu.

    Others in the 28-member committee include Chief Ayo Banjo, former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Dr. Ahmadu Ali, Muhammad Junaid, Prof. Rose Onah and Sen. Jack Tilley-Gyado, among others.

    Pastor Tunde Bakare and former Governor Peter Odili were drawn in the Commitree on Political restructuring and forms of government.

    Others in the Committee are Chief Olu Falae, Sen. Mohammed Dansadau, Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (rtd), publisher Nduka Obaigbena and Amb. Philips Tapgun.

    In the 24-member Security Committee are Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) leader, Gani Adams, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gambo Jimeta, Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Useni and Gen Zamani Lekwot.

    Other committees include Environment, politics and governance; Law; judiciary, human rights and legal reform; Social sector; Transportation: Science, Technology and Development; Agriculture; Covil society, Labour and Sports; Public service; Energy; and Religion.

    Others are Public Finance and Revenue; Immigration and related matters; Economy. Trade and Investment; Land Tenure and National boundaries; Foreign policy diaspora matters; and Political Parties and Electoral matters.

    Disaster was averted yesterday evening as a delegate Amb. Abudlmumin Abubakar slumped shortly after plenary was adjourned.

    The former Assistant Inspector General of Pilice (AIG) and Commissioner of Police in  Borno State was grating interview to reporters when he suddenly collapsed.

    He was immediately attended to by medical personnel who tried to revive him.

    When it was discovered that his health was deteriorating, with the revival therapy seemingly unsuccessful, the retired AIG was taken away in a police ambulance for proper medical attention at an undisclosed hospital.

    A medical expert said the cause of the collapse might be as a result of exhaustion, “I don’t think it’s serious because, as you can see, he was just coming from the secretariat after the plenary.

    “He is an elderly man, its nothing serious,” he said.

    It will be recalled that a  delegate on the platform of Retired Police Officers, former  AIG Mamman Misau died a few weeks ago.