In this final instalment of our series documenting the symposium held in honour of Biodun Jeyifo’s 80th birthday, we conclude with the celebrant’s own reflections. Stepping away from the accolades, BJ offered a sobering assessment of Nigeria’s trajectory and a radical vision for the future of the human species.
Professor Biodun Jeyifo, Professor Emeritus of English at Cornell University and of Comparative Literature and African and African American Studies at Harvard University began by emphasizing that his life and work are a collective project, one shared with a generation of remarkable intellectuals, including Bala Usman, Claude Ake, Aisha Imam, and Edwin Madunagu. While he was the focus of the celebration, he noted that he felt fortunate to belong to a community that successfully advanced a revolution in pedagogy and curriculum.
In a segment he described as the “statistics of anguish,” BJ compared Nigeria in 1975, the year he returned from his doctoral studies, with the present day.
On life expectancy, he noted that in 1975, life expectancy at birth in Nigeria stood at about 45 percent. Nearly 50 years later, it has increased by only 10 percent, reaching just 54 percent. He linked this to what he described as a deep anguish, reflecting on the many friends and colleagues from his generation who are no longer alive.
On poverty and personal loss, BJ shared that of his seven siblings, only two are alive today, with three not living beyond the age of 50. He also noted that while poverty stood at 47 percent in 1975, multi-dimensional poverty has now risen to 62 percent, with young people bearing the greatest burden.
BJ offered a sharp critique of the popular political call for restructuring, describing it as hollow if it fails to address the redistribution of wealth. Recalling a poster, he displayed on his office door in 1975 bearing a quote from Shakespeare, “redistribution should undo excess, and each man have enough,” he argued that administrative reforms are secondary to economic justice.
Jeyifo pointed to the preamble of the 1979 Constitution, which originally envisioned Nigeria as a social democratic state committed to both development and the redistribution of wealth. He lamented that these radical ideas were gradually removed through editorial changes, and he urged a return to those foundational principles.
Looking ahead, BJ concluded with a firm anti-capitalist position. He stated that humanity has no future that is not post capitalist, arguing that survival depends on a global shift from competition to cooperation across regions.
Before the event closed with a rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” BJ shared a light moment, finally solving a decades old mystery from his early teaching years. He realised that the giggles from female students during tutorials were because his fly was open while he was lost in thought.
The symposium ended with a vote of thanks by Kunle Ajibade and a shared commitment to reconvene for the Professor’s 90th birthday in 2036.
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