The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has announced plans to host a public symposium in honour of renowned scholar and literary critic, Professor Biodun Jeyifo, as he marks his 80th birthday.
The symposium is scheduled for Monday, January 5, 2026, at the AGIP Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, and will commence at 9:00 a.m. (WAT).
According to the organisers, the event will take place against the backdrop of ongoing global debates on decolonisation and will examine Jeyifo’s enduring contributions to curriculum reform, cultural resistance and critical thought.
The symposium is themed “Who Is Afraid of Decolonisation?” and will interrogate the contemporary relevance of decolonial ideas in education, politics and public discourse.
Professor Jeyifo is a Professor Emeritus at Cornell University (English) and Harvard University (Comparative Literature and African and African American Studies), and is widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary scholars.
The programme will feature a keynote lecture by Professor Priya Gopal, Professor of Post-Colonial Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her lecture is titled “Who’s Afraid of Decolonisation? Reflections on Particular Pasts and Planetary Futures.”
The symposium will be chaired by Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, Chairman of Tanus Books, Lagos. Two panel sessions will follow the keynote lecture.
The first panel will offer critical responses to the keynote and will feature Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Chairman of the Editorial Board of Premium Times; Dr Chidi Amuta, Chairman of Wilson & Weizman Associates, Lagos; and Professor Akin Adesokan of Indiana University, Bloomington, United States. The session will be moderated by Professor Ropo Sekoni, immediate past Chair of WSCIJ.
The second panel, titled “Pedagogy for Liberation: Then and Now,” will bring together former students and mentees of Jeyifo to reflect on his influence as a teacher, thinker and institution-builder.
Panellists include Dr Bisi Anyadike, Proprietress of Sunshine Nursery and Primary School, Ile-Ife; Kunle Ajibade, co-founder of TheNEWS and PM NEWS; and Dr Ogaga Ifowodo, lawyer and poet. The session will be moderated by Professor Chima Anyadike of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
A major highlight of the symposium will be remarks by the celebrant, Professor Jeyifo, in which he is expected to reflect on curriculum, society and revolution across generations.
WSCIJ said the event will bring together students, scholars, writers, journalists and cultural critics, and will conclude with audience interaction, networking and reflections on Jeyifo’s enduring contributions to African scholarship and critical pedagogy. Members of the public have been invited to attend.
Interested participants can register via the link: https://bit.ly/BJ_80.
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