Professor of African Literature at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA), Busuyi Mekusi, has urged Africans to return to literature as a tool to resolve deep-rooted social, cultural and political problems.
Delivering the university’s 48th Inaugural Lecture titled The Danger of Forgetting: Afromorphs, Literature and Memory on September 23, 2025, Prof. Mekusi said literature goes beyond art, stressing that it holds therapeutic value for individuals and societies.
He noted that literary works mirror the state of the human mind and the shaping of personalities by past experiences, making them useful in addressing personal and collective trauma.
According to him, “Just like the way History as a subject has been treated, even much so that it was removed from the curriculum for some years, and only reintroduced in 2025, the many functions performed by literature have not been substantially appropriated, as the human race, particularly challenged and embattled postcolonial nations in the southern hemisphere, continue to be confronted by too many socio-cultural and politico-economic contradictions.
“It is suggested that literature should be intentionally centralised in Nigeria, Africa and globally as a therapeutic instrument for the healing of violated personal and collective psyches. This is more so as literary texts have variously reflected the connection between the state of mind of an abused person and the configuring of the same personality by the untoward experiences of the past, to become an aggressor, thereby initiating a despicable and debilitating chain.”
The professor added that works exposing bad governance, corruption, and institutional decay should be seen as patriotic efforts to promote reform, not as cynical attacks.
Vice Chancellor of AAUA, Prof. Olugbenga Ige, who chaired the event, praised Prof. Mekusi’s scholarship and his contributions to the growth and reputation of the institution.
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