Private cremation for Funso Aiyejina, UWI memorial on July 10

A private funeral will be held for the late literary giant, former dean of Humanities and Education and professor emeritus at UWI Funso Aiyejina on July 10.

Aiyejina who died on July 1, will be cremated at Belgroves Funeral Home, Trincity.

Later in the day, friends and colleagues will have an opportunity to pay tribute during a memorial at Daaga Hall, UWI, St Augustine campus from 2 pm.

No cause of death has been revealed, but Marina Salandy-Brown, founder and president of Bocas Lit Fest, where Aiyejina was one of the four board directors and former deputy festival director, said, “We all thought he was healthy.”

The Nigerian-born Aiyejina was discovered dead in his bed by his family members. He was married to a Trinidadian, Lynda, and the couple had two sons, Abuenameh and Ararimeh.

Aiyejina who was also a poet, short-story writer and playwright.

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

Former UWI principal Brian Copeland said Aiyejina, who came to TT some 30 years ago as a lecturer, was somewhat of a radical during his formative years at university in his homeland.

A brilliant man who always had a strong opinion but always had a listening ear, Copeland said these characteristics led Aiyejina to participate in the students' rebellion and in opposition to the government.

“He was a brilliant fella, brilliant in terms of understanding people. He served as dean of Humanities for some time, and he always tried to be fair in his dealings with others.

“Of all the losses I have experienced in the last years, this one hit the hardest. I am still trying to come to terms with his loss.”

Copeland said Aiyejina maintained his strong African roots, of which he was very proud, but loved TT and would find himself across the country seeking out and participating in Yoruba traditions still observed here.

Former minister in the Ministry of Education Lovell Francis wrote and elegy for his former lecturer who became his colleague.

“As human beings, we are a very curious bunch. Some of us bounce our big toe and want the whole universe to know. Others like my professor, walked around carrying a bag, heavy with triumphs and accolades, normal-normal like it was nobody's business.”

He recalled meeting Aiyejina more than two decades ago, after he had already won the Commonwealth Prize for Literature.

“When I asked him what that felt like, he responded that when he told his children they could hardly be bothered, and he decided that they were right."

Francis said this was not the fake, performative humility that Trinidadians love so much, “but rather the genuine vibe of a very bright man who was as keen on producing written excellence as he was on not falling into that trap of taking himself too seriously."

Gre­go­ry McGuire, chair­man of the TT Ex­trac­tive In­dus­tries Trans­paren­cy Ini­tia­tive also paid tribute to his friend in a post on Facebook.

“Sleep in peace dear Funso. You were a treasured friend and colleague to me and an ardent supporter of the Players Workshop. It is on your insistence that the Players Workshop had the honour of repeating Jestinas Calypso in celebration of Lovelace @70. I enjoyed and will continue to enjoy reading your works."

Friend and former colleague, Prof Emeritus Ken Ramchand, also referred Newsday to a tribute he posted on Facebook in which he suggested a public wall of fame to pay homage to those who are still alive, and those, like, Aiyejina, who have passed.

“We have a place called Memorial Park where we salute the citizens who served the mother country in World War II. Wouldn’t it be fitting to expand Memorial Park by putting up a wall on which there would be plaques remembering the soldiers of our culture who fought for us from the earliest times; an unfolding tapestry of our evolution arranged to inspire us as a people and encourage more and more heroism in our own wars in the world.

“We have the space to do it, and we have a long queue waiting. We can surely find enough culturally literate persons to form a non-partisan body who will ensure that on this monument, every creed and race finds an equal place.”