Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso (born 21 April 1943), also known as Kole Omotoso, is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

writer and intellectual best known for his works of fiction and in South Africa as the "Yebo Gogo man" in adverts for the telecommunications company

Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include ...

. His written work is known for its dedication and commitment to fusing a socio-political reappraisal of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and respect for human dignity into most of his works.

Early life and education

Kole Omotoso was born into a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

family in

Akure Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the capital and largest city of Ondo State. The city had a population of 403,000 as at the 2006 population census. History Pre 1914 Rock engravings dating back to the Mesolithic period, ha ...

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents after the death of his father."Kole Omotoso", Africultures.
/ref> Though the lack of a father figure could crush a young Nigerian boy, the events of his early childhood contributed a great deal to his development as a man and also as a writer. Omotoso was educated at

King's College, Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students on its original site at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only male student ...

, and the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

and then undertook a doctoral thesis on the modern

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

writer Ahmad Ba Kathir at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Later life

Omotoso returned to

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

to lecture on Arabic studies (1972–76), then moved to the

University of Ife Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

to work in drama (1976–88). He became a writer for various magazines (including ''

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

'') in the 1970s and was well known among Nigeria's literate elites. His major themes include

interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 1 ...

, comic aspects of the Biafran-Nigerian conflict, and the human condition—as exemplified in friendship between the Yoruba and the

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

and in relationships between children and parents. His 1988 historical novel about Nigeria,
Just Before Dawn
' (Spectrum Books), was controversial and led Omotoso to leave his native country. After visiting professorships in English at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

and the

National University of Lesotho The National University of Lesotho, the main and oldest university in Lesotho, is located in Roma, southeast of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The Roma valley is broad and is surrounded by a barrier of rugged mountains which provides magnific ...

and a spell at the

Talawa Theatre Company Talawa Theatre Company is a Black British theatre company founded in 1986.

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, he became a professor of English at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

(1991–2000). From 2001 to 2003 he was a professor in the Drama Department at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

. He also writes a number of columns in African newspapers, most notably the "Trouble Travels" column in the Nigeria's ''Sunday Guardian''. From 2013 to 2016, he was a patron of the

Etisalat Prize for Literature The 9mobile Prize for Literature (formerly the Etisalat Prize for Literature 2013–16) was created by Etisalat Nigeria in 2013, and is the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first-time African writers of published fiction books.

. In the mid-1990s and 2010s he appeared as the "Yebo Gogo man" in a number television advertisements for Vodacom

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s. Omotoso is married with three children — including filmmaker

Akin Omotoso Akin Omotoso (born 1974) is a Nigerian film director, writer, and actor. He is best known for directing the 2022 film ''Rise''. Both his father Kole Omotoso and his sister Yewande Omotoso are also writers. Early life and education Omotoso was ...

and writer

Yewande Omotoso Yewande Omotoso (born 1980) is a South African-based novelist, architect and designer, who was born in Barbados and grew up in Nigeria. She is the daughter of Nigerian writer Kole Omotoso, and the sister of filmmaker Akin Omotoso. She currently ...

— and currently lives in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa.

Themes

Omotoso grew up during the rising tide of radical nationalism and was enamored by the potential that lay in the future of his country. His fiction ranges widely over the human condition, and themes include intergenerational and interracial relationships. ''Fela's Choice'' is an early example of Nigerian detective fiction. However, with the ascent of social and political decay, a few years after independence, he became deeply interested in writing ''about'' fiction. Fiction was an avenue that exists apart from the decay of real life and where deep reconstructions about life and ideas come true. It was also an avenue to experiment on social and political ideas for societal change and advancement. Omotoso's non-fiction is wide-ranging in subject matter.

Works

Fiction

*''The Edifice'' (1971) *''The Combat'' (1972; Penguin Classics, 2008, ) *''Miracles'' (short stories) (1973) *''Fela's Choice'' (1974) *''Sacrifice'' (1974, 1978) *''The Scales'' (1976) *''To Borrow a Wandering Leaf'' (1978) *''Memories of Our Recent Boom'' (1982) *''Just Before Dawn'' (Spectrum Books, 1988, )

Drama

*''The Curse'' (1976) *''Shadows in the Horizon'' (1977)

Non-fiction

*''The Form of the African Novel'' (1979 etc.) *''The Theatrical Into Theatre: a study of the drama and theatre of the English-speaking Caribbean'' (1982) *''Season of Migration to the South: Africa's crises reconsidered'' (1994) *'' Achebe or Soyinka? A Study in Contrasts'' (1995) *''Woza Africa'' (1997)

References

*Uko Atai, ''African Writers'' Vol. 2 1997

External links

Kole Omotoso
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omotoso, Kole 1943 births People from Akure University of Ibadan alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Living people Yoruba writers University of the Western Cape faculty Nigerian expatriates in South Africa King's College, Lagos alumni 20th-century Nigerian novelists English-language writers from Nigeria Obafemi Awolowo University faculty International Writing Program alumni Nigerian dramatists and playwrights Nigerian male novelists

Kole Kole Weathers is a fictional superheroine in DC Comics. She is a former member of the Teen Titans. Fictional character biography Professor Abel Weathers, paranoid of an impending nuclear holocaust, was attempting to find a way for humanity to ...

20th-century male writers