Nigerian professor, Pius Adesanmi, involved in road accident

A Nigerian Professor of English, Pius Adesanmi, was involved in an accident along Oyo-Ogbomosho road on Wednesday.

Mr Adesanmi, a PREMIUM TIMES’ columnist, narrated his ordeal to this newspaper in a telephone interview. He lamented how no help came for him and other victims of the accident for almost two hours after the accident.

The don said he was on his way to Lagos from Ilorin to board a flight to Dakar for a meeting.

Between Oyo and Ogbomosho, his vehicle – a Nissan- had a head-on collision with a car from Ibadan (a Toyota Privia).

“Two hours after the accident, no help came. The evacuation culture was zero,” he said.

He explained that people just gathered at the scene of the accident, wondering and shouting. Others were screaming and cursing. No one attempted to help.

Mr Adesanmi narrated how he passed out several times. He said a taxi driver eventually “came to his senses”, about two hours after the accident, and took the victims to the hospital.

He explained that they were taken to a general hospital in Oyo town where they spent another two hours before they were attended to.

It is, however, not clear the number of victims involved in the accident and their present condition as the telephone connection went dead and subsequent efforts to reach the professor was not successful.

Mr Adesanmi is Director of the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University, Canada. A graduate of University of Ilorin, the don is also a novelist.

Every year, he holds an Abiola Irele Seminar on Theory and Criticism for PhD students and lecturers at the Kwara State University – the venue from which he was returning before the accident.

Mr Adesanmi has used his various articles to call for good governance in Nigeria.

His writings are often critical of Nigerian politicians, clerics, and other public figures.