Pius Adesanmi

Pius Adebola Adesanmi (27 February 1972^[1] – 10 March 2019) was a Nigerian-born Canadian academic and author. He was the author of Naija No Dey Carry Last, a 2015 collection of satirical essays. Adesanmi died on 10 March 2019, when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed shortly after take-off.

Biography

Adesanmi was born in Isanlu, in Yagba East local government area of Kogi State, Nigeria.^[2] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in French language from the University of Ilorin in 1992, a Master's degree in French from the University of Ibadan in 1998, and a PhD in French Studies from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in 2002.^[3] Adesanmi was a Fellow of the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) from 1993 to 1997, and of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) in 1998 and 2000.^[4]

From 2002 to 2005, he was assistant professor of Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University. In 2006, he joined Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada, as a professor of Literature and African Studies.^[5] He was the director of the university's Institute of African Studies until his death.^[6]

For many years, Adesanmi was a regular columnist for