Ayokunmi Ojebode

Lecturer at SOAS University of London

Ayokunmi Ojebode (PhD) is a lecturer, scholar and faculty at SOAS University of London where he teaches a predominantly West African language – Yoruba to SOAS University students and the international public through extensive extramural programmes and bespoke language training. 
Dr Ojebode completed his B.A. in English from Ajayi Crowther University in 2011. After that, he proceeded to the Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, for his postgraduate studies and received his M.A. in African Literature in 2016 and PhD in African Literature in 2019. He graduated as a pioneer student and youngest PhD holder to defend a thesis, “Characterology and Onomasticity in Selected Plays of Femi Osofisan,” rated as the best in the Faculty of Arts of Redeemer’s University Nigeria in September 2019. He leveraged his profound skills in critical textual analysis, semi-structured interviews, interdisciplinary surveys and field visits to explore the postcolonial significance of names in five dramatic texts of a Nigerian literary icon foregrounded within literary and sociocultural contexts. He employed Semiotics to connect the data to processes within Nigerian society, culture, and literature.
As a dynamic scholar with over six years of experience as a university faculty, Dr Ojebode’s guiding philosophy has been a deep commitment to teaching and conducting ground-breaking research, especially in African Literature, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Ecospirituality, Health Humanities and Literary Onomastics. He is a lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS Language Centre), University of London and a Fellow at the School of English, University of Nottingham. He was an English lecturer at Nottingham College and former faculty at Ajayi Crowther University, Nigeria, and Redeemer’s University, Nigeria. He has published over twenty articles in high-impact factor journals. He has teaching certificates from Boston University USA and Nigeria and is working towards becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He is a member and presenter at reputable conferences, including those organised by the African Studies Association (ASA), the International Society for Oral Literatures of Africa (ISOLA), the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN Romano-Hellenic Division) and the International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS).
Before the Nobel Prize award for Literature in October 2022, Dr. Ojebode was interviewed as one of the few experts on African literature in the United Kingdom by Anne K., a Danish journalist and Africa Correspondent for the Danish weekly Weekendavisen, Tanzania, on the scope, trends, and prospects of African literature within global space. In August 2022, as a Lecturer at SOAS University of London, he was a guest language coach for the recorded performance of the Yoruba Afro-Brazilian Osvaldo Lacerda’s “Ofulú Lorerê” by the Stay at Home, UK’s award-winning and leading virtual choirs. In April 2022, he was interviewed for a documentary project, “Our Names” (under review), by Zadi Zokou, a filmmaker from the Ivory Coast in Boston, USA. He mapped a historical sketch of personal names in Sub-Saharan Africa and mutations in the Americas and African diaspora, especially among the Lukumi Candomble and Santeria. In February 2022, he defended “Home Before Naming: Naming Practices and Yoruba Characterization in Femi Osofisan’s Selected Texts” to complete the Teaching Africa Teacher Certificate (TAT) with Boston University African Studies Centre.
As a complement, Dr Ojebode invests in Professional Development Programmes (PDPs) with credits awarded for attending workshops, seminars and fellowships by African Studies Centres at Boston University, Carleton University, Michigan State University and Ife Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS) pioneered by Prof. Jacob Olupona of Havard University, USA. He is a peer reviewer for Irinkerindo: Journal of African Migration (IJAM), Language in Africa, Moscow, Russia and Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, USA.
Dr Ojebode is a confident lecturer because of his extensive teaching portfolio and experience in Nigeria, the US and the UK, making him a suitable candidate for any international lectureship and supervisory role as he disseminates knowledge from his wealth of experience. He is open to collaborating with other leading educators around the globe, especially in understanding the culture, history and literature of West Africa.  
Dr. Ojebode enrolled for the Teaching Africa Teacher (TAT) Certificate organised by Boston University African Studies Centre in November 2020 to reflect, revise and refine teaching qualities, and learn innovative and strategic ways to HE teaching and learning support. His philosophy is that beyond teaching, educators should be thoroughly equipped and committed to enhancing educational standards and practices in their institutions.
-Read Dr. Ojebode’s 2023 article published in Delos: “Eulogizing the Big Man: Murals as Royal Art in Ọ̀yó: Aláàfin Palace”

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