This essay honours two polyglot Nigerian intellectuals—Harvard University’s Abiola Irele and Oxford University’s Raufu Mustapha—who grew up in different parts of the country from their ancestry, and died abroad a month apart from each other in July and August 2017 respectively. I honour Irele’s work on culture and poetry, and Mustapha’s on religion, ethnicity and identity politics; as well as Nigeria’s foreign policy.
ABIOLA IRELE: THE LAST PROPHET OF NEGRITUDE
Francis Abiola
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