Nigeria, Feb. 16 -- I pinched myself that I wasn't at his 80th anniversary celebration at Muson Centre Lagos on Monday, 5 January. The inability to intervene via Zoom during the tribute session was also painful, although I enjoyed the deserved accolades.

Now with the news of the passing of the revolutionary and literary iroko simply called BJ, it suddenly looks like a missed opportunity to say farewell, even though no one could have imagined that death was around the corner. He was lively. He interjected even before being called upon to make a formal response as the celebrant. He laughed heartily. Perhaps, unknown to us, he was bidding the world bye-bye.

The good thing, however, is that I encountered BJ on a few occasions in the recent ...