Academy of Letters elects Yemi Ogunbiyi, Segun Adeniyi, seven Profs as new fellows

The Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), the apex body of arts and literature, and an autonomous, scholarly and non-political state institution in the country, has elected nine new fellows into its fold.

The newly elected fellows include two renown journalists; Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, Olusegun Adeniyi and seven professors.

NAL is an organisation which exists for the advancement of scholarship and public interest in the humanities at the highest level in the country.

A statement by the Secretary of the Academy, Ayobami Kehinde, said the fellows were elected into the fellowship by the College of Fellows (CoF) of the Academy in recognition of their contributions to knowledge in their various fields of specialisation.

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The new Regular Fellows include Professor Ifeoma Mabel Onyemelukwe, Professor AbdulRasheed Naallah, Professor Sunday Enessi Ododo, Professor Ademola O. Dasylva, Professor Jim Unah and Professor Albert ‘Lekan Oyeleye, while Professor Tanure Ojaide was admitted as an Overseas Fellow.

Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi and Mr Olusegun Adeniyi were admitted as Honorary Fellows.

According to Kehinde, the investiture of the new fellows will take place on Thursday, August 8, 2019, at the J.F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium of the University of Lagos by 11.00 a.m.

Established in 1974, the NAL is currently governed by the executive committee of distinguished professors. Every year, it admits a limited number of distinguished individuals as fellows in four categories; Foundation Fellows, Regular Fellows, Overseas Fellows and Honorary Fellows.

The current president of NAL is Professor Francis Egbokhare of Linguistics and African Studies at the University of Ibadan.