Solomon Babalola
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Solomon Adeboye Babalola (born Ipetumodu,
Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun S ...
,
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 ...
, 17 December 1926 – 15 December 2008) was a Nigerian academic,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
and
scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
.


Biography

Professor Solomon Adeboye Oladele Babalola was born on December 17, 1926, into the Babalola family of Ile-Ajo. His father, Joseph Olawuni Omowunmi Babalola (Ajala) was a master carpenter, renowned for the charitable re-building of homes in Ipetumodu after severe storm damage very early in the 20th Century; hence the family title “Alatunse of Ipetumodu” – “The Fixer”, a family that improves their environment. His father was also a devoted
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. Babalola was baptised into Christ Church of the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.). He had a strong Christian upbringing and attended the C.M.S Christ
Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
, Wasimi, Ipetumodu. He was an active member of the church choir and often sang in the shower throughout his life. Babalola accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour while at Igbobi College, and was confirmed by the
Bishop of Lagos The Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos is one of the 14 ecclesiastical provinces of the Church of Nigeria. It comprises 13 dioceses: *Lagos (Bishop: Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye) * Awori (Bishop: Akin Atere) *Badagry (Bishop: Joseph Adeyemi) * E ...
, Rt. Rev. Gordon Vining on November 24, 1943.


Education

In 1936, at the age of 10, Babalola was selected by his teacher, Mr. S.T. Fakoya, to sit for the entrance examination to the Government Colleges of Nigeria. This examination was held in Ibadan, and as a Standard Four boy, he competed with the big boys in Standards Six and Five. It was a good practice run; in 1937 he took the Entrance Examination to Igbobi College, Lagos and was admitted into Form One in January 1938. This was the beginning of his academic prowess. Adeboye was Senior Prefect and Captain of Oluwole House from January to June 1944, before proceeding to
Achimota College Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The schoo ...
in the Gold Coast, now Ghana, to pursue the Intermediate Bachelor of Arts Programme, on scholarship from Igbobi College. It was while at Achimota School, that the detailed results of the School Certificate Examination of Igbobi College was received. He had passed with 9 ‘A’s or “alphas”. This made him popular. Babalola was invited to sit the examinations to the University Section although he was given automatic admission based on his academic antecedents. Thereafter, he received the results of his B.A. Examinations – “A” Very Good in English and Latin; “B” Good in Geography and Economics.


Career

From 1946 – 1948, he was a teacher. On August 8, 1946, he returned to Igbobi College where he was known as ”Nine-Alphas Babalola” or ”Accurate Man” – this time as a member of the teaching staff. In August 1947, he applied for the Nigerian Government Colonial Welfare and Development Scholarship. He successfully gained a scholarship tenable at Queen’s College in the University of Cambridge, England at the age of 22. He arrived in Cambridge in October 1948 and joined the Student Christian Movement and also served as the Secretary of The African Student’s Club. It was at Cambridge that he responded to a request by the BBC West Africa Service to submit English verse translations of the oral poetry of their people. Babalola translated Yoruba texts of “Ijala”, chants, which Yoruba hunters traditionally entertain themselves with. The entries were adjudged the best and were to be broadcast by Babalola on the West Africa Service Programme styled “Calling West Africa.” He was paid a fee for studio recordings! Mr. Swanzy of the BBC then forwarded the translations to the Editor of the Royal African Society’s Journal “African Affairs” for consideration for publication. The editor did publish this English
blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...
translation in successive issues of the journal, and the praise he received was more valuable than the fees withheld by the editor! Babalola graduated with a B.A. Honours degree from the University of Cambridge in 1951 and was subsequently conferred the M.A. (Cantab) as is the tradition of that great institution. Solomon Adeboye Babalola attended
Achimota College Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The schoo ...
in
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. After obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1946, he taught at
Igbobi College Igbobi College is a college established by the Methodist and Anglican Churches in 1932, in the Yaba suburb of Lagos, Lagos State, South-western Nigeria. It is still on its original site and most of the original buildings are intact. It is one ...
. In 1948, he received a second scholarship for his bachelor's degree at
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
, earning his degree in 1952. He came back to Igbobi College to continue teaching and he rose to become the first African principal of the school, despite being the youngest staff member. He was awarded a doctoral scholarship in Yoruba literature. 1n 1962, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Institute of African Studies of
Obafemi Awolowo University 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 ...
. He also earned a doctoral degree at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. In 1963, he was professor of African Languages at the
University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...
. In 1966, he published ''The Content and Form of Yoruba Ijala'' (
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
). The work introduced Yoruba folk tales, poetic forms and an annotated anthology of Ijala (hunter's songs) poems, translated into English. It won the Amaury Talbot Prize for the best contribution to the people of West Africa's literature that year. The work also opened up for international research on African languages, under Babalola's management at the
University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...
. The university's School of African and Asian Studies was founded in 1967, with Babalola one of three lecturers, and focused on
Nigerian languages There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The Nigerian official language is English, the language of former colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian Pidgin was spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nige ...
such as
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 ...
,
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 t ...
,
Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
and
Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...
. Babalola's scholarly works have been prominent in preserving a great deal of African oral traditions. Adeboye Babalola died on Monday December 15, 2008.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babalola, Solomon People from Osun State Nigerian male poets 1926 births 2008 deaths Yoruba poets Alumni of the University of London Yoruba academics Yoruba-language writers Alumni of Achimota School Obafemi Awolowo University faculty University of Lagos faculty Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Yoruba-language poets Yoruba educators Nigerian folklorists Nigerian schoolteachers 20th-century Nigerian poets 20th-century Nigerian educators