Prof Emeritus Funso Aiyejina has died

FORMER dean of Humanities and Education and Professor Emeritus at UWI Funso Aiyejina has died.

The Nigerian-born Aiyejina was also a poet, short-story writer and playwright.

Tributes have started pouring in from his contemporaries and those he worked with in the literary field.

Among them, former UWI principal Brian Copeland spoke of the brilliance of the man with whom he shared a lot of ideas about UWI going forward.

"I am still trying to gather my thoughts. This one hit me hard. I thought he was in good health.

"He was a strong African but loved TT, which he made his home for over 30 years. He was married to a Trinidadian, Lynda, and had two brilliant sons of whom he was very proud,” Copeland said.

He said Aiyejina closely followed African traditions and would disappear around Carnival to check out all the stickfights and all Yoruba traditions in TT (though he was not himself Yoruba).

Founder of the Bocas Lit Fest and Newsday columnist Marina Salandy-Brown said, "We have lost a most loyal and wonderful friend and a steadfast partner."

She spoke of the painful process of announcing the sudden death of this founding Bocas board member.

"He attended our AGM on Thursday and the book launch that followed and was his usual upbeat self.

"He played a critical role in the development of the Slam and our publishing efforts and sealed our long-term relationship with UWI, where he was dean of the Faculty of Education and the Humanities," she said.

"We have lost a most loyal and wonderful friend and a steadfast partner. He believed in the Bocas vision and dream and was tireless in his contributions to our work.

"He made many other interventions to promote literature in our region. Himself a prizewinning writer, he was also a scholar who was the authority on the work of Earl Lovelace, (and) he was a UWI Press editor for very many years.

"He led the Cropper Foundation residential workshops that trained so many of our contemporary writers. He also started the MFA at UWI St Augustine.

"I know everyone who knew him and worked with him will know the extent of our loss, personal and professional. My heart is with yours as we mourn his untimely passing. We are all devastated, bereft, shocked and speechless in the face of this sudden loss. Everyone loved and deeply appreciated him as a friend and mentor. He was always honest and generous"

Salandy-Brown added, "For me personally, he had a special place outside of work. My mother too was born in Nigeria, and he talked to her about their birthplace and he translated the remnants of the Hausa she still remembered. He was a link with her past. She adored him."

The Strictly Soca Facebook page commented: “We have lost a giant. We have lost a force. His absence will be felt, memory cherished, achievements amplified, and spirit celebrated.

"Travel well, my friend, and Godspeed.”

Aiyejina was born in 1949 in Ososo, Edo State, Nigeria, graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Acadia University, and UWI.

He taught at Obafemi Awolowo University and UWI, and was a Fulbright lecturer in creative writing at Lincoln University, Missouri.

He also served as deputy festival director of the NGC Bocas Lit Fest. In 2022, he and Merle Hodge won the Bocas Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters.

Aiyejina was a James Michener Fellow of the Caribbean Writers Summer Institute, University of Miami, and an honorary fellow of the International Writers Workshop, Hong Kong Baptist University.