They can no longer stop his death because it is all too late. But they can remember him for what he was: a relentless icon of elevated takes on the Nigerian condition. In advancement of that value and as collective exercise in homage to a departed member of the kindred, they will gather.
The late Prof Adesanmi on the right and Dr Ogaga Ifowodo, another member of the kindred on the left.
They are gathering in Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada as they would in Lagos and across the world wherever issues of African Studies matter. This is, however, about the one that would take place in Abuja, as in the details on the card, particularly what will unite everyone when it happens: Memorialising Pius Adesanmi: The Power of the Civic Space.
Perhaps it is reflecting on such a topic that best helps in coping with a moment like this when one of the kindred who has successfully bolted from the limits imposed by a multiple of factors and forces and is already contributing to illuminating a terribly dark corner is abruptly extinguished. His was, indeed, a life well spent. It could have been longer but that is no longer important. He must have already met Claude Ake over there, who preceded him, not only in terms of powerfully illuminating the world but also in terms of manner of death.
