Nigeria: Obituary - Pius Adebola Adesanmi (1972 - 2019): Deploring an Untimely Transition

Possibly his most enduring role was that of the inconvenient man of letters who kept sentry to public morality and ethics, hovering the fringes of the errant moment, then swiftly rising to caution, needle or upbraid (baring and deploying his 'koboko' on the aberrant body, as he was wont to say). Words were his weapon of choice, apparently compelled by a conscience stitched to truth, and regularly giving wings to his angst. This was, conceivably, his bequeathed responsibility as a son of a headmaster, who was a custodian of communal propriety.

Certainly, no less an indication of the impact of Pius Adesanmi - the highly renowned essayist, academic and public intellectual - has been the great outpouring of emotions attendant upon his recent demise, in the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines Airbus 737 crash of Sunday, March 10, from friends, colleagues, professional co-travellers and other fellow journeymen. Even those at the abrasive end of his lacerating social commentary and many who, though in frequent or fervent disagreement with him, yet feel the significant shrinking of the public sphere by his unfortunate departure.

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