Why after his death? A reminiscence on Pius Adesanmi and a reflection on the ‘black culture’

Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)

Evidently, Adesanmi was one of Africa’s finest. He’s one of the academics whose “gowns” fit well in the town. His scholarship had a societal colouration with a direct bearing on the reality of the real world. His posthumous fame is a confirmation of his relevance which was not academic but educational. I have established in an earlier article that an academic lecturer is highly scholarly with huge publications while an educational lecturer is mindful of what the society has to gain from his numerous academic outputs.

Since his demise, at least one person will have a wonderful piece of Pius Adesanmi to share on one or more of the platforms I belong to and the big questions on my mind every time these articles are shared are: did he write these articles after he died? Did these articles become relevant after his death?

The truth is simple. Africa and Africans celebrate and have an obnoxious culture of posthumously appreciating what are theirs.  A Fela in the Western world would have been idolised even before his death. I sometimes wonder what it was Martin Luther King Jnr did that was societally more significant than Fela’s prophecies. Aside the Bible and the Quran, Fela’s pronouncements are about the most everlastingly relevant declarations in the lives of Nigerians; relevant yesterday, today and most likely tomorrow. But NO! He was and still is to many a rascally entity with a great flare for making troubles and promoting indecency.

If you’re my contemporary or older than I am, with a little interest in football, you probably too would have asked what was it a David Beckham did to be a football divinity in England that an Okocha did not do in Nigeria. You may also want to wonder what was it about the Owen of England that the Obafemi Martins of Nigeria did not exhibit.

 So i wonder, would our heroic Pius Adesanmi had gained a voice if he had not launched himself from outside? Again, have you wondered how many of his kind still write and exhibit different nationally significant virtues in Nigeria with plentier “shut ups” than “well dones” from the public?

My point: a culture that waits for external validation of what is theirs is barbaric! A people that give posthumous honour will not dance on the global stage of relevance.

As we hope that the soul of great Pius rest well with his Maker, it is my hope that we will celebrate the living Pius’s before they too die.

(c) Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)

14/4/2019.