Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso (21 April 1943 – 19 July 2023), also known as Kole Omotoso, was a Nigerian writer and intellectual best known for his works of fiction and in South Africa as the “Yebo Gogo man” in adverts for the telecommunications company Vodacom.[1] His written work is known for its dedication and commitment to fusing a socio-political reappraisal of Africa and respect for human dignity into most of his works.
Omotoso returned to Ibadan to lecture on Arabic studies (1972–1976), then moved to the University of Ife to work in drama (1976–1988). He became a writer for various magazines (including West Africa) in the 1970s and was well known among Nigeria’s literate elites. His major themes include interracial marriage, comic aspects of the Biafran-Nigerian conflict, and the human condition—as exemplified in friendship between the Yoruba and the Igbo and in relationships between children and parents.
His 1988 historical novel about Nigeria, Just Before Dawn (Spectrum Books), was controversial and led Omotoso to leave his native country. After visiting professorships in English at the University of Stirlingand the National University of Lesotho and a spell at the Talawa Theatre Company, London, he became a professor of English at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa (1991–2000).[6] From 2001 to 2003 he was a professor in the Drama Department at Stellenbosch University.
Omotoso also wrote a number of columns in African newspapers, most notably the “Trouble Travels” column in the Nigeria’s Sunday Guardian. From 2013 to 2016, he was a patron of the Etisalat Prize for Literature.[7]
In the mid-1990s and 2010s, he appeared as the “Yebo Gogo man” in a number of television advertisements for Vodacom mobile phones.[1][8]
Omotoso was married with three children — including filmmaker Akin Omotoso and writer Yewande Omotoso — and lived in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa.[1]
Kole Omotoso died in Cape Town on 19 July 2023, at the age of 80.[9][10]
