Duro Oni (Yorùbá: Dúró Òní; born on December 15, 1952, in Minna) is a Nigerian professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Lagos. He is the president of the

Nigerian Academy of Letters The Nigerian Academy of Letters is a national academy and apex body of arts and literature in Nigeria. It is an autonomous, scholarly and non-political state institution for advancing scholarship and public interest in the humanities at the highes ...

. His research interests are in the areas of theatre arts design and aesthetics, stage lighting, dramatic literature and criticism, cultural studies and the Nigerian film industry/

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

Education and career

Oni received a diploma in drama from 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 196 ...

in 1973. He later received Bachelor and

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degrees in Performing Arts Design and Technology from the California Institute of the Arts. He earned his doctorate degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan. In August 2021, after serving as the vice president of the academy from 2018 to 2021, Oni was inducted as the president of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, taking over from

Francis Egbokhare Francis Egbokhare (born September 22, 1962) is a prolific scholar, academic linguist, writer, and professor from Nigeria, and a fellow and the immediate past president of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. He has held positions at the University of ...

. From 2013 to 2017, Duro Oni was the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services) of the University of Lagos from 2013 to 2017. Before then, he was the university's Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 2009 to 2013, and the Head of the Department of Creative Arts from 2006 to 2009. He has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization from 2000 to 2006. He also served as the pioneer Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Lagos from 2008 to 2009. Duro Oni retired from the University of Lagos on December 15, 2022, at the age of 70 after 42 years of diligent service. From 1990 to 1991, Oni served as the special adviser to the Nigerian Minister of Culture and Social Welfare, and as the special adviser to the Nigerian Minister of Youth and Sports from 1991 and 1992. Oni was the Director of the University of Lagos' Centre for Cultural Studies from 1992 to 1997. He initiated and developed the bachelor's degree programmes in Creative Arts, and in Chinese Studies in 1997 and 2013 respectively. Prior to his master's studies in California, Oni was a theatre stage technician at

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

between 1973 and 1975, following which he was nominated for the British Council Artists Fellowship programme in 1975.

Publications

Oni has published several monographs and edited volumes, among which are: * ''Striking Expressions: Theatre and Culture in National Development'' (2017) * ''The Soyinka Impulse: Essays on Wole Soyinka'' edited with Bisi Adigun (2019) and * ''Larger than His Frame II: Critical Studies and Reflections on Olu Obafemi'' (2021). He has also authored scholarly articles in peer-reviewed academic journals such as ''African Performance Review, Social Dynamics,'' among others''.'' In 2012, a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, titled ''Fireworks for a Lighting Aesthetician: Essays and Tributes in Honour of Duro Oni @ 60,'' was published in honour of Oni's scholarship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oni, Duro Living people 1952 births University of Ibadan alumni Academic staff of the University of Lagos California Institute of the Arts alumni