Today, Professor Festus Adesanoye—Bàbá Rere—is 80! Generations of Ibadan students know him for one thing: error analysis in communicative English, taught not as pedantry but as respect for sense. I mean, he treated grammar and usage as a matter of clarity and courtesy, not nitpicking. “Error analysis” in his classes wasn’t about shaming mistakes; it was about showing how misplaced modifiers, tense slips, or vague pronouns muddle meaning and how fixing them respects the reader or listener.
In other words, correctness was a tool for better communication and greater understanding, not a badge of superiority. I initially encountered him during my undergraduate studies at the Department of Communication and Language Arts at the University of Ibadan, where his strict disciplinary approach was never harsh. He insisted that we think of our subjects, verbs and audiences.*
He was the last substantive Director of the Ibadan University Press (Publishing House) before I succeeded him in 2022. I learnt from his files how fiercely he guarded standards and how gently he handled young authors. In retirement, he is still a familiar figure at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, where I bump into him for advice alongside Professor Dan Izevbaye, another A-rated professor of English.
Life is a small loop: his son Femi was my classmate in the Master’s class in the same Department of Communication and Language Arts.
Family, friends, associates and well-wishers will raise glasses today, but I will remember the real gift—a scholar who taught that clear language is public service.
Happy 80th, Sir. May your days continue to return with excellent health and prosperity.
Congratulations. Cheers!
Tunji Oladejo, mnipr, JP, writes from the University of Ibadan and is the Chairman of The Progressive Forum, Ibadan (TPFI), via oladejo65@gmail.com or 08077284442.
