University of Ibadan mourns Emeritus Professor Ayo Bamgbose
The University of Ibadan (UI) has mourned the death of renowned African linguist and Foundation President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), Emeritus Professor Ayo Bamgbose, who died at the age of 94.
The university, in a statement issued on Saturday, described Bamgbose as a distinguished scholar whose contributions to linguistics, indigenous language development and academia left an enduring legacy in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.
Born on January 27, 1932, in Odopotu, near Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Bamgbose was widely regarded as the first Professor of Linguistics in Africa. He studied at St. Andrew’s College, Oyo, and the then University College, Ibadan, before earning a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh in 1963 with a thesis on the grammar of modern Yoruba. He joined the University of Ibadan the same year as a lecturer and became a professor in 1968.
During his distinguished career at the University of Ibadan, he served in several leadership positions, including Head of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1971 to 1973, Chairman of the Senate Committee on the General Studies Programme and Chairman of the Senate Publications Committee. Following his retirement, he was honoured with the title of Professor Emeritus.
Beyond Nigeria, Bamgbose held visiting academic appointments at leading institutions, including the University of Hamburg, Clare Hall of the University of Cambridge, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Leipzig. He also became the first African Honorary Member of the Linguistic Society of America in 1994, the first African President of the International Association of World Englishes in 2000 and the first African elected Second Vice-President of the Permanent International Committee of Linguists in 2003.
His pioneering work in the study of Yoruba and other Nigerian languages transformed linguistic scholarship, laying the foundation for the teaching of Yoruba in universities across Nigeria and abroad while mentoring generations of scholars in African languages.
Bamgbose was a recipient of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM), Nigeria’s highest academic honour, awarded in 1990. He also served as the Foundation President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters in 1998 and the Foundation President of the Assembly of Academicians of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) in 2009. In 2010, he was inducted into the Nigerian Academy of Letters Hall of Fame for Letters.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, on behalf of the university community, commiserated with Bamgbose’s family, friends and the wider intellectual community, describing him as an outstanding scholar whose contributions to the university, Nigeria and the global academic community would remain an enduring legacy.
