Adeshina Afolayan: His Impact on my Interest in Philosophy

[Toyin Falola]

Essay by Professor Tunji Olaopa

 

 

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/01/19/philosophy-and-an-unending-quest-for-reform/ 

 

 

[Michael Afolayan]

Thanks, Professor Olaopa, for putting a square peg in a square hole. I do not have such a lofty history of associating with Adeshina Afolayan as you have, I only hide behind the accident of name to attach myself to him. Forget Shakespeare's disavowance of name, for me, if anyone is Afolayan, I am naturally curious, asking if s/he is from Ekiti, Osun, Kwara or where in the world the fellow may hail from! (Except on rare occasions, you don't find someone sporting Afolayan as first name, and when that happens, which I've seen twice, he (only a man it could be) would simply shorten it to "Fola" or in an extreme case, like the second person I ever met with first name Afolayan, he shortened his to Layan). Needless to say, my first curiosity about Adeshina was his name, then he got my unfettered attention on USA-Africa Dialogue by his impeccable writing style with deep intellection, and no room for mediocrity. This prompted me to contact the Oracle of Writing himself, TF, to ask about "this guy Adeshina," the man blessed with such rare ability to think and write. He introduced him to me, telling me of his own love for him as well. This Kwara man is no one other than the son of Ade Love, my favorite childhood actor/singer who made me think the Indian genre of opera started in Yorubaland! My curiosity for Adeshina was sealed and he has not betrayed it.

Call it intellectual laziness, but ordinarily, I read less than 5% of whatever comes my way on social media but Adeshina's is one I have to read even if I have to put everything else on hold. Why? Because he has no room for sentiments; his assessments are fair; and his diction in writing is superlatively beautiful. Prose or poetry, you can't scan through what Adeshina writes; you just have to let it soak in to the very last drop. It's finger-licking good. He often reminds me so much of O. B. Yai. And if anyone does, I adore him or her. Pure and simple! 

Adeshina's elevation to the much-envied status of a professor in Nigeria is hailed. I only wonder why it took so long, though. Even with what the writer, Olaopa, just said about him, let alone his serious contributions to scholarship, he would have attained such status elsewhere around the world a decade before now, if not even much earlier! How many are those nauseatingly wearing that title of professorship on their brows all over the place and you could not but ask what the heck is going on? Is this now a chieftaincy title earned by association with the big monarch and not for what is "professed"? Why then should someone with such depths of thinking like Adeshina be anything below the pinnacle of success for so long in academia and in a country where such pinnacle is measured by the title of Professor? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. And that could be frustrating. But, venting that frustration should be for a different day. It would not fit into the current space of discourse. This space is just to appreciate Professor Olaopa's tribute and to further congratulate Adeshina, to whom I say, again, "Your ancestors often say 'the one who eats last does not eat the rotten leftover.' Enjoy your newfound status. Prof: May this wreath of honor befit your brows!" Kú iṣẹ́ o!

Michael O. Afoláyan

(Awaiting the Inaugural Lecture of the Philosopher-King)

On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, 3:04:11 PM GMT+1, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

Essay by Professor Tunji Olaopa

 

 

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/01/19/philosophy-and-an-unending-quest-for-reform/ 

 

 

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