Nobel Laureate Soyinka, Pyrates Confraternity Bid Farewell to Scholar Biodun Jeyifo in Ibadan

The burial was held at the Anglican Cemetery of St James the Great Cathedral, drawing family, friends, former students and colleagues from across Nigeria to pay tribute to one of Africa’s most respected literary critics and progressive thinkers.

Jeyifo, a committed Marxist scholar and pioneer president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), passed away on February 11, just five weeks after his 80th birthday was celebrated by loved ones and colleagues in Lagos. His contributions to African literary scholarship and social justice activism left an enduring mark on Nigerian intellectual life.

At the graveside, solemnity replaced ceremony as Soyinka and the brotherhood delivered their final tribute. Among those present were Jeyifo’s children — Okunola, Lekan and Ayoka — his grandchildren and close associates. The gathering closed with a farewell anthem: “Pyrates sail again / We shall sail on earth / We shall sail in heaven / Pyrates sail again” — a symbolic send-off honouring Jeyifo’s lifelong membership in the brotherhood.