Late Chief Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa has been described as a creative legend, a literary giant and a mystic superhuman whose creativity, passion, inspiration and commitment transcend his lifetime; while his books described as containing emerging jurisprudence, legal perspectives and moralities.
The Dean of Faculty of Law and Provost of Ifetedo Campus of the Osun State University, Professor Abass Gbadamosi (SAN) stated this on Thursday at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan during the 60th remembrance anniversary of late Fagunwa while presenting a lecture titled: “Emmerging Jurisprudence in The Works of D. O. Fagunwa: What Lesson For Nation Building?”
“Somebody who even has a first or second degree in Yoruba might not be able to write what he wrote. You can imagine a man wrote a book as early as 1949 and it is still relevant till today and it will continue to be relevant because some of those books have been translated into English, Arabic and French.
“So, Baba was in a class of his own. He deserves to be celebrated because of the legacies he left behind. His books remain evergreen as many theses and dessetations in Yoruba studies have made copious references to his works over time.
“His works are works that live after him and you cannot wish them away. Baba has left that legacies and I look at his works from legal perspectives that has to do with the ills of polygamy and attendant legal consequences of polygamy, police brutality and many other issues that Baba canvassed.
“I also examine the nexus between law and literature because when they gave me this assignment, I was wondering what a lawyer has to do with literature, the farthest thought that came to my mind was that to study law, you need literature.
“I’ve had to do some research and I’ve found out that Baba’s books promote creativity, legal writing and interdisciplinary research because these days you don’t restrict yourself to your narrow discipline. You take a cue from other disciplines. So today I’ve examined legal perspectives in law and Yoruba literature and that was why I advised the Fagunwa Foundation that they should go outside Yoruba and bring in other speakers from linguistics, philosophy, indigenous people’s knowledge, forestry and even sociology to come and look at Baba’s works from different perspective so that it will help to expand, not only the jurisprudence in Baba’s work, other researchers can also look at Baba’s work from their own research perspectives.” The professor stated.
Lamenting about the very low rate at which Yorùbá language is being spoken in the society, Professor Gbadamosi said Yoruba language should not be allowed to go into extinction.
He recommended that both Yorùbá Language and Yorùbá Literature should be made compulsory up to JSS 3, adding that the ten best students who have best grades in Yorùbá at WAEC should be given prizes and Baba’s books as donations to them.
He charged all parents to promote Yorùbá language speaking amongst their children right from birth. He said parents should inculcate the habit in their children if they don’t want the language to go into extinction, adding that government should not be held responsible for everything as parents have a role to play in making sure that Yoruba language doesn’t go to extinction.
Earlier at the event, the Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale, who was ably represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Ronke Bayeroju said Late Fagunwa’s works were among the most researched literary texts spanning various disciplines, stressing that they have been applied to almost every aspect of human endeavor.
“One of such is today’s lecture. You could adjudge texts as old only in terms of their years of publication but in terms of their relevance and contribution to the society. This further foreground the reason why Fagunwa’s works are studied in all Nigerian universities.
“Fagunwa was a wizard of tales and maestro of the storytelling art. His arts are reflections of Yoruba cosmology, philosophy and society. They transcend time and region. Maybe that is why some must have idolized him because he is a rare gem among humans. He is a preacher of morals which is the bedrock of ‘Omoluabi’, the concept that defines the Yoruba people. But the relevance transcends Yoruba as a race. No wonder his books have been translated to English, French and German.
“Going back to Fagunwa’s works as our moral compass makes today’s topic the most suitable for our discussion in this critical time of our nation: ‘Emerging Jurisprudence in the Works of Fagunwa: What Lessons for Nation Building?’ The Lecturer of the day being a legal practitioner and a teacher of law has open our understanding to Fagunwa’s proposition about jurisprudence and the lessons we can learn as a nation to better our present situation.
“It is incumbent on us to make use of the relevant aspect of today’s lecture to better our lot.” The VC stated.
The VC thanked Fagunwa Foundation, Fagunwa family and the Department of Linguistics and African Languages for organising and hosting the 60th remembrance anniversary of the late literary icon.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the event, the President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Barrister Ajeniyi Ajewole represented by the Second Vice President-General of the Council, Comrade Alamu Oloyede Ibikunle, decried the dying state of Yoruba language amongst the younger generations.
Ajewole advocated for a deliberate efforts to rescue Yorùbá from going into extinction. The CCII head said Ibadan and its people cherish late Fagunwa and his literary contribution to the Yoruba race.
One of the sons of the late literary icon and Chairman, Board of Trustees of D. O. Fagunwa Foundation, Chief Diipo Fagunwa described his late father as a universal lecturer who used the whole world as his classroom.
He appreciated everybody for standing by the foundation and the family for sixty solid years and still counting.
The highlight of the event was performance of cultural dance and music by the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan.