Revered theatre arts professor, Dapo Adelugba, dies at 75

Dapo Adelugba, a professor and one-time head of the Theatre Arts department of the University of Ibadan (UI), has died.

Jahman Anikulapo, former editor of TheGuardian on Sunday who fondly referred to Adelugba as “my father”, told TheCable that the septuagenarian died “on Sunday in Ibadan at about 11:50 pm.”

Tunde Awosanmi, head of UI’s department of Theatre Arts, also confirmed the death, saying it occurred “at a private hospital” in Ibadan.

“I would miss a lot of things about him. He was a fantastic teacher, the best teacher anybody could have,” Awosanmi said.

“I can remember that when he was supervising my Ph.D., he used to bring my file to me in the post graduate hall where I lived. I can remember that he also assisted quite a lot of students in and out of the department. He was a humanitarian to the core.”

Born on March 9, 1939, Adelugba studied English at the University College, Ibadan.

While at the university, apart from taking part in a lot of productions such as Wole Soyinka’s Swamp Dwellers, where he acted as the Blindman, he was president of University College, Ibadan Dramatic Society, where he adapted Moliere’s ‘Les Fourberies de Scapin’ (The Trickeries of Scapin) to ‘That Scoundrel Suberu’.

In 1964, he submitted his master’s degree dissertation at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he wrote on Nationalism and the Irish Theatre.

He later joined the teaching services of the University of Ibadan, where he retired in 2004. He spent his last teaching years as emeritus professor at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, from where he finally retired two years ago.