Nigeria, Feb. 20 -- We lost Prof Biodun Jeyifo, or BJ as we fondly called him last week, not long after we organised an 80th anniversary symposium in his honour. At the event, his bosom friend. Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi explained he was not supposed to have reached the ripe old age of 80 as much earlier in life, he had been diagnosed with a disease that was supposed to guarantee a much shorter life-span. It was for this reason that he relocated to the United States to have access to better medical facilities. We thank God for giving him a long and fulfilled life.

I had known BJ as a young Marxist student in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, who travelled frequently to Ife, to engage with the relatively large number of student and lecturer comrades ...