EULOGY: Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso (April 21,1943 – July 19, 2023)
‘Author, Playwright, Teacher, Critic, Actor, Colleague, Mentor(both informally and formally especially as President of the Association of Nigerian Authors), Friend, Prof Kole Omotoso lived a life rich with meaning and purpose. A born scholar, he never missed an opportunity to engage in new topics. An astute socio-political critic, his criticality never got in the way of his belief in humanity’
BORN on 21 April 1943 Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso (Kole for short) in Akure, Nigeria, he attended Oyemekun Grammar School and completed his secondary education at King’s College in Lagos.
He subsequently graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1969 and was awarded a PhD in Arabic Literature from the University of Edinburgh and the American University in Cairo in 1972. While completing his doctorate, his first two novels were published, “The Edifice” and “The Combat” in 1971 and 1972.
He had a love of travel. He talked wistfully about his trips from Edinburgh to Egypt during his post grad. When us kids grew and started travelling too, he would evoke those hitchhiking days and remind us to rely on what he called ‘the ways and means committee’ – meaning our own creative thinking and street-smartness when navigating a new country.
From Edinburgh, he returned to Nigeria together with his wife and our late mother, Marguerita Rice. They had met in a library one day when he was arguing with the Librarian. Marguerita decided to find out who this noise maker was, disturbing the peace of the library. The rest is history. Back in Nigeria, he was a lecturer at the University of Ibadan’s Department for Arabic and Islamic studies before taking up a teaching position at the University of Ife’s Drama department.
During this time three children were born – Akin and Pelayo in Ibadan and Ife and Yewande in Bridgetown, Barbados, Maguerita’s home country, where the family spent a year.
He embraced Maguerita’s Caribbean heritage and he had an immense love for our grandparents and they for him. He became immersed in the Caribbean literary scene and forged long-lasting friendships with luminaries like John La Rose and Sarah White (the late founders of the legendary London bookstore, New Beacon Books) and Bajan novelist, George Lamming amongst others. He loved the steel pan music, Soca and Reggae, but more than anything he loved Calypso.
Our dad was a generous and friendly man and our home in Ife was like a port. People constantly arriving, staying and joining our daily rituals. Our mother, who was just as generous, but not quite as sociable, appreciated and accommodated his infectious gregariousness.
Throughout our childhoods, there was a steady stream of students coming to our house to receive advice, engage in ideas, have lunch, have dinner, babysit his kids, and laugh a lot.
Kole’s extensive work, in particular, the 1988 publication of “Just Before Dawn”, often put him in conflict with belligerent powers. From 1989 our father was forced to work mostly outside of Nigeria and, in the interest of reuniting the family, in 1992 we relocated to Cape Town where he held Professor positions at the English Department of the University of the Western Cape and later the Drama department of the University of Stellenbosch.
Relocating here before the questionable referendum and before democracy had been achieved was a dicey move, which proved to be a fortunate one the day Marguerita and Kole participated as vote counters in the 1994 election.
In an unexpected turn of events, South Africa provided an outlet for another of his talents – the Actor. When we arrived here, he was the only one with a job. While Marguerita was looking for work, she decided to join a casting agency.
While she registered, the Casting Agent asked if she knew anyone who spoke French. She said, “I do indeed; my husband.” Daddy, who had been waiting in the car was swiftly called up and registered with the agency as well. He auditioned for his first ad and got that job. The second audition was for a company called “Vodacom”.
Kole, who had already starred in Wole Soyinka’s “The Trials of Brother Jero” and “Opera Wonyosi” and acted in numerous other plays in Nigeria, became known and loved by South Africans as the Yebo Gogo Man in Vodacom’s insanely popular ads. Most of you, who are here in person today, remember seeing his photo everywhere and every day. And if the rest of you don’t believe it, know that the late great Nelson Mandela once said to our father, “you are the most photographed man in South Africa next to me”.
For us as a family, the Vodacom Connection was a godsend, providing much stability at an uncertain time. We were and continue to be grateful to the Brand for providing us with a soft landing in a new country and for hosting us today. Nothing could be more fitting than us remembering him here at Vodaworld today.
His acting career in film and TV in South Africa continued with him playing Govan Mbeki alongside Sidney Poitier as Mandela in the mini-series “Mandela and De Klerk” and Bankole Abayomi in “Jacob’s Cross”. He was also a sought-after consultant for various productions.
Our father’s Yoruba heritage greatly influenced his view of the world and his work. A couple of years before his passing, he realised a lifelong dream of building a homestead in his hometown Akure, designed by Yewande. Here he was able to live and work with his wife Bukky and her children, Taiwo and Olamiposi, from 2016 until his return to South Africa in 2019 for medical treatment.
He was a great lover of wine and food. Especially Nigerian food. Towards the end when speech was all but gone it was that enjoyment that was left and exercised. We loved bringing him “pounded yam, egusi and assorted meat with no shaki”, fried yam, eggs and plantain, and the occasional mix of eba and okro stew – dishes that despite how sick he got, he’d never turn down. We thought of this as a testament to his appetite for life in general.
Author, Playwright, Teacher, Critic, Actor, Colleague, Mentor (both informally and formally especially as President of the Association of Nigerian Authors), Friend, Prof Kole Omotoso lived a life rich with meaning and purpose. A born scholar, he never missed an opportunity to engage in new topics. An astute socio-political critic, his criticality never got in the way of his belief in humanity.
We will miss him, but find solace knowing that his legacy will continue to live on, through his work, through his three children, Akin, Pelayo and Yewande, through Bukky, Taiwo, and Olamiposi, and his grandchildren, Alula, Itai, Paida, Kehinde, and Taiye.
We wish him a Peaceful Journey.
Thank You.
*Akin Omotoso, film director, writer, and actor, presents the eulogy at the funeral service of his father, writer-academic, Kole Omotoso (held both In-Person and Virtually) on Tuesday, August 8, at Vodacom World, Connect 500 South, Midrand, in South Africa.
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