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Renowned literary scholar, critic, and public intellectual, Professor Biodun Jeyifo, has passed on at the age of 80. The distinguished literary scholar and specialist in world Anglophone literature and culture died in Ibadan, Oyo State, on February 11, 2026, just some weeks after marking his 80th birthday at the Muson Centre, Lagos. The event was to celebrate his life, career and scholarship on African literature.
The late literary icon taught African literature in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and some universities in the United States. He had also raised many literary critics, writers and journalists worldwide. He was survived by Okunola Bamidele Jeyifous, a scholar at DePaul University, Chicago; Olalekan Babajide Jeyifous, an architect, sculptor and public art muralist residing in Brooklyn, NY; and Ruth Ayoka Samuels, an undergraduate student at Cornell currently working with community activists.
Jeyifo showed early promise as an intellectual at the University of Ibadan, where he studied English and graduated in 1970 with first-class honours. He, thus, became the third student in the university history to earn that honour after Dan Izevbaye and Molara Ogundipe, who went on to be become legendary literary critics. From New York University, where he earned a master’s degree in 1973, he went on to earn a PhD in 1975 from the same university.
He was also awarded a D.Litt (honoris causa) from Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ University, Ile-Ife in 2018. A literary scholar with Marxist bent, he taught at Cornell University, Oberlin College, and Harvard University in the United States. As an activist, he was the pioneer president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while lecturing at Ife.
Since his passage, prominent Nigerians and associations have eulogized his indelible achievements. In his tribute, President Bola Tinubu noted that the renowned literary scholar, critic, and public intellectual would be sorely missed for his contributions to African literature, postcolonial studies, cultural theory, and his masterful interpretation of the works of Professor Wole Soyinka.
The President also recalled the temperance, foresight, and wisdom that Prof. Jeyifo brought to the leadership of ASUU over many years, providing guidance and appropriate negotiation frameworks with the government to improve working conditions and the learning environment in Nigerian universities. The President said Professor Jeyifo’s longstanding advocacy for academic freedom and social justice would be remembered.
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According to him, “Nigeria and the global academic community have lost a towering figure and outstanding global citizen. Professor Biodun Jeyifo was an intellectual giant who dedicated his entire life to knowledge production and the promotion of human dignity. I share a strong personal relationship with him. His contributions to the literary and cultural advancement and to society at large will be missed.”
Similarly, the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) described the literary critic as one of the most rigorous and influential voices in African literary criticism. Beyond his scholarly achievements, ANA emphasised that Professor Jeyifo was deeply committed to the growth of Nigerian literature, consistently engaging with writers, mentoring younger scholars, and contributing to critical conversations that strengthened the intellectual foundations of the nation’s literary tradition.
His genius was recognised by many institutions. He was a recipient of the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal, Hutchins Centre for African and African American Research, Harvard University in 2019. He was a Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2011. He was honoured with the Outstanding Academic Texts (OATS) award of the American Library Association for the book, Wole Soyinka–Politics, Poetics and Postcolonialism (Cambridge University Press, 2004); 2007. Jeyifo was a great scholar who produced outstanding literary works, which have been cited by students and researchers worldwide.
Some of his works include The Truthful Lie: Essays in the Sociology of African Drama (London: New Beacon Books, 1985), Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics and Post Colonialism (Cambridge, 2004),Things Fall Apart, Things Fall Together (BookCraft Africa, 2010), Against the Predators’ Republic (Carolina Academic Press, 2016), Apostrophes: To Friendship, Socialism and Democracy (Bookcraft, Ibadan, 2021). He also edited Conversations with Wole Soyinka (University Press of Mississippi, 2001), and Perspectives on Wole Soyinka: Freedom and Complexity (University Press of Mississippi, 2001).
The deceased will be remembered for contributing immensely to the transformation of Nigerian university curriculum in literature through quality teaching and research in the 1970s and 1980s, especially in the areas of Marxist literary theory, theatre and cultural studies. The federal government should honour this great Nigerian literary scholar, critic and patriot. We urge young and aspiring literary critics to emulate his good example. We commiserate with his family, friends and the literary community over the great loss.
