Nigeria recently lost one of the most important writers in its indigenous languages. Professor Akinwunmi Isola, an eminent scholar, celebrated playwright, ace dramatist and accomplished actor, died on February 17, sadly depleting the ranks of African writers in the Yoruba Language. His passage is a great loss to African Literary Studies, particularly relating to Yoruba language, literature and culture.
Without doubt, the deceased will be greatly missed by all scholars of Yoruba Language and Literature, especially his students and colleagues. Prof. Isola, who passed on in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the age of 79, was a great writer and author of the iconic Yoruba play, Efunsetan Aniwura, which he wrote when he was a student at the University of Ibadan in 1961. His other popular works include Tinubu, Ko See Gbe, O Le Ku and Ogun Omode. It is to his eternal credit that his works, Ko See Gbe, Saworoide, Agogo Eewo, O Le Ku and Campus Queen were adapted into films by one of the nation’s most versatile film producers, Tunde Kelani.
Born on December 24, 1939 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Isola attended Labode Methodist School and Wesley College in Ibadan. He got his B.A. degree in French at the University of Ibadan. Much later, he got his M.A. degree in Yoruba Literature from the University of Lagos. He later obtained his doctorate degree in Yoruba Literature at the University of Ibadan. He taught for several years at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and rose to the position of a professor in 1991. He was, unarguably, the first scholar to deliver a university Convocation Lecture in Yoruba at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State.
Isola dedicated his entire academic life to the study and propagation of Yoruba language, literature and culture. His contributions to Yoruba drama and films are unquantifiable. He was a visiting professor at the University of Georgia, USA. Professor Isola was a versatile thespian, a literary prodigy and intellectual cognoscente. He was known for promoting the Yoruba language and culture through his writing, public speeches and even his dressing.
He translated into Yoruba language Professor Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman and Ake: The Years of Childhood. He later went into broadcasting with a creative production company that turned a number of plays into television dramas and films. He composed the anthem of his alma mater, Wesley College, Ibadan and it is still in use today. In 2000, he was awarded the National Merit Award and made a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters in recognition of his immense contributions to Yoruba Language and Literature.
Since his demise, prominent Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari, have mourned the death of the prolific writer and cultural activist. In his tribute, Buhari lauded the deceased’s steadfastness and dedication to the promotion of Yoruba language and tradition. In the same vein, the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, described the demise of the playwright and literary giant as a colossal loss to his immediate family, the Yoruba race and the world at large. He said that Oyo State had lost a venerated son of the soil, who devoted his life to the promotion of Yoruba culture through his creative works and monumental contributions to global knowledge of the subject. Others who spoke in similar manner praised the deceased’s dedication to the growth of Yoruba language and culture.
We join other Nigerians and his numerous admirers to mourn the passage of this great Nigerian author, actor, cultural activist and erudite scholar. We urge other Nigerian academics to emulate his good example and dedication to scholarship, especially his promotion of one of our indigenous languages, literature and culture.
Let the government immortalise this literary giant and great scholar of Yoruba language. We commiserate with his family, the academic community, the film industry and the nation on the irreparable loss.