Mahfouz A. Adedimeji
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived – that is to have succeeded – Ralph Waldo Emerson
On August 5, 2026, at a time the academic world was yet to fully recover from the grief of losing the legendary linguist, Prof. Emeritus Ayo Bamgbose, to death after a life that was well lived, another tragedy of monumental proportions befell the world of scholarship. That was the day a foremost African linguist, pioneer Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Ilorin and former acting Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Professor Emeritus Oladele Awobuluyi, breathed his last, depleting the rank of Nigeria’s finest intellectuals further.
A man of many firsts and acclaimed academic of a rare breed, Prof. Awobuluyi was a human encyclopedia and academic mentor who combined success with value as the first Head of Department of Linguistics at the University of Ilorin, first Dean of the Faculty, first inaugural lecturer of the University and later first Director of Research Centre for Nigerian Languages at Kwara State University, Malete.
When Albert Einstein noted that one should try not to become a man of success but rather be a man of value, he probably did not imagine at the time that one could combine both. Prof. Awobuluyi was immensely successful as a professor of impressive academic credentials, including a degree in Classics from the University of Colorado Boulder and two Master degrees capped with a PhD in Linguistics from Columbia University, crowned with an excellent career that included university-wide leadership role between 2009 and 2010. Besides, he was significantly a man of value who gave more to the world through his vast contributions as a father, teacher, mentor, author, community leader and role model whose legacy combined teaching, research, character, leadership and integrity.
I was fortunate to have been taught “Linguistics and Book Publishing” by the acclaimed Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Prof. Awodele Awobuluyi, as a 300 level student in 1997 but the impression he left in me would last forever. Apart from being inspired to publish my first book a year later, his sense of discipline that would make him punctual always, his commitment to work and his students’ progress, his erudition, his calligraphy, his modesty and the totality of his personality really struck a chord in me. We never interacted then and I did not meet him afterwards as he retired from the University of Ilorin the same year I joined the system as a young lecturer in 2001 after a stint elsewhere.
But in early 2024, I was in a hospital in Ilorin and to my combined amazement and elation, I saw Baba, and I introduced myself as his former student who was a Vice Chancellor somewhere. The reaction was spontaneous: he struggled to rise, to my utter consternation, after which I knelt down pleading that he remain seated, while addressing me with unexpected courtesy. As I noted in a Facebook post on October 4, 2024, a request for his account details was initially rebuffed but I persisted. I initiated a successful transaction and it was that gift from me, which I intended to let pass without a trace, and the quest to express gratitude that made his wife, Mama Sumbi Awobuluyi, who had built a solid reputation as a dynamic Headmistress of the University School back in the years, to use her digital skills to scoop me out of the cyberspace, marking the beginning of our relationship.
When I got to read with relish an academic essay Baba wrote, courtesy of one his most accomplished students, Prof. Issa Sanusi of the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, where he expressed the difficulty he experienced with getting support for language development initiatives and vowed henceforth to concentrate of what was within his capacity, especially a new edition of his book, I made a decision: I would support the project by buying copies of the book and distributing them to interested friends. After doing that when the book came out of the press, I was still not happy that I paid to the publisher, not to the author. That was why I asked for Baba’s account details again, to which he replied:
“Hello, thanks and compliments of the month. Thanks very much too, for your financial generosity. I was hoping that, after purchasing such a large number of copies of my new book, you would take a break for now. I wrote the book, not for fortune, but for the scholastic fame of drastically revising Yoruba grammar as handed down to us all by its earlier grammarians. Kindly, let us leave it at that. I greatly appreciate your kind and very respectful gesture, and I’ll remember it with thanks for as long as I live. Best and warmest regards!”
But I pushed further: “Thank you, sir. I understand the purpose of the book, sir. In fact, nothing can compensate the intellectual work in it. That is why my emphasis is on putting it in the hands of those who will benefit from it most, within and outside the university. I’ll appreciate it much if you grant me the honour. It is just symbolic. My initial thought was that I would buy copies from you directly. I recall the last time I met you, I was affiliated with a private university in Patigi. I am now playing the same role in another private university in Abuja. Thank you very much for remaining a beacon of inspiration. I cherish you, sir. My regards to mummy and the entire family.”
He obliged me, understanding that I was not putting myself under strain, and he immediately acknowledged receipt: “Thanks a million. Money received with gratitude and sincere appreciation. Ko nii tan nibe o, lagbara Eleda gbogbo wa. Amin.” The following day, he still sent a text message: “Prof, e se ana o. Ike ati Iyesi Olorun lojo gbogbo ni ipo ola ti o wa o. Ase!” I replied, “Amin Ase Edumare! E seun pupo, sir. Ko tope.”
From the foregoing exchanges we had, it would be apparent that Baba was an epitome of hard work, still engaged in active writing and publishing till his late eighties. He was a paragon of humility, who would respect his academic son assumed to be in “ipo ola”, not huffing and puffing but separating the person from the office. He was an embodiment of contentment, which would make him decline providing his account details despite being a retiree. He was also an epitome of virtue which showed in his profuse appreciation of what were just symbolic gestures from me, reflecting the Ciceroen maxim that gratitude is the mother of all virtues. Besides, he was a man of faith and love, which reflected in his messages of blessings and prayers. He was equally a quintessence of character with his unblemished career that I was so fascinated to read more about after our renewed encounter.
The news of Baba’s death hit me like a pointed dagger but I, like all his former students, admirers and friends, am consoled that he lived not only a life of success marked by great personal accomplishments but also a life of value characterised by service to humanity. He has left but he still lives in our hearts, as many lives continue to breathe easier because he lived.
I commiserate again with the matriarch, Mama Awobuluyi, who graciously drew my attention to the call for this, and the entire family. I pray that the Almighty God grant everyone the fortitude to bear the huge loss. Adieu!
