Foremost Nigerian scholar and literary critic, Prof. Pius Adesanmi, who died in Ethiopian Airlines aircraft accident on March 10, has been laid to rest.
Adesanmi, who was among over 100 passengers on that ill-fated flight, was buried on Saturday at the Capital Home and Cemetery, 3700 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, Canada.
Premium Times reports that details of the burial were made public by an associate of the late writer, Mr. Nduka Otiono, asssistant professor and graduate programme coordinator at the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa.
Born February 27, 1972, Adesanmi was a frontline writer, literary critic and columnist.
Among his numerous publications is the popular book, Naija No Dey Carry Last, a 2015 collection of satirical essays.
Adesanmi was a Fellow of the French Institute for Research in Africa from 1993 to 1997, and later the French Institute of South Africa between 1998 and 2000. From 2002 to 2005, he was Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University, United States.
In 2006, he joined Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, as a professor of Literature and African Studies.
Until his death in March, he was the director of the university’s Institute of African Studies.
The news of Adesanmi’s burial has attracted a deluge of tributes from his virtual friends and close associates who thronged Otiono’s page to eulogise the late scholar.
In his tribute, Fidelis Chimokwu noted that “The verses of peaceful silence echoed the rise of a glorious star into the Heavens of faith as he rests in the divine temple!”
David J Hornsby said “The ancestors are welcoming him home. beautiful tribute.”
Ngozi Theodora Nwobu on her part said it is “an acknowledgement from heaven that he is finally and safely home,” while Lookman Sanusi said, “Pius has gone to a beautiful home to rest.”
Shortly after Adesanmi’s death earlier in the year, a poetry anthology titled ‘Wreaths for a Wayfarer: A Poetry Anthology in honour of Pius Adesanmi’ was proposed for publication in his honour.
According to the editors of the book, Daraja Press (Canada) will publish the North American edition while Narrative Landscape Press (Nigeria) will publish the African edition.
The anthology is expected to be published this year.
