I knew him well. He came to my mind when I was recently in South Africa, (I didn’t try enough to locate him) wondering how he was as he had chosen South Africa his home away from Nigeria. I first met Professor Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso famously known as Kole Omotoso (1943-2023), a literary icon when I was a resident artist at West Africa Magazine situated on Coldharbour Lane in Camberwell, London.
As the designer of the magazine’s weekly covers, I featured Professor Omotoso’s picture as part of my cover design in 1995. Any time he was in London from Nigeria, Professor Omotoso would visit West Africa magazine as well as be a literary contributor ’til he relocated to South Africa.
Already a renowned Professor of African Literature, Professor Omotoso, was a Nigerian writer and intellectual, best known for his works of fiction and in South Africa as the famous “Yebo Gogo man” in adverts for the telecommunications company Vodacom.
Author, Adebayo Olowo-Ake, Consulting Research Fellow says of Professor Omotoso…“He was a man of profound intellectual capacity, whose seminal work, “Just Before Dawn” remains the best-ever socio-political commentary on contemporary Nigeria. By his transition, Kole Omotoso has left a monumental gap in our intellectual firmament.
Public Speaker and Consultant Dr. Sina Odugbemi says “Professor Omotoso was a fabulous human being and a brilliant mind.” A good friend and mentor. 1st degree connection
Professor Omotoso’s written work is also known for its dedication and commitment to fusing a socio-political reappraisal of Africa and respect for human dignity into most of his works.
The literary world mourns his loss and so does Nigeria’s President Tinubu and Vodacom whom he did adverts for in South Africa.
Good night Professor Omotoso whom most South Africans knew as Yebo Gogo in the Vodacom adverts.
TAYO Fatunla whose work has been featured on MSN.com via EURweb.com is an award-winning British-Nigerian Comic Artist, Editorial Cartoonist, Writer, and Illustrator and is an artist of the African diaspora. He is a graduate of the prestigious Kubert School, in New Jersey, US., and recipient of the 2018 ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award for his illustrated OUR ROOTS creation and series – Famous people in Black History – He participated at UNESCO’s Cartooning In Africa forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Cartooning Global Forum in Paris, France and has held a virtual OUR ROOTS cartoon workshop for SMITHSONIAN- National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C. His Fela Kuti image is prominently featured in Burna Boy’s mega-Afrobeat hit song “Ye”. – https://www.instagram.com/tfatunla123
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