The Nigerian-born Canadian professor and writer, Pius Adesanmi attracted hundreds of Nigerians and foreigners on Sunday 17th March, 2019 as the interdenominational commiseration service organized to pay tributes him was packed full to capacity.
The late professor, Pius Adesanmi was one of the one hundred and forty-nine (149) passengers who lost their lives in the ill-fated Boeing 737 Max 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 which crashed killing all onboard enroute Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to Nairobi in Kenya on 10th March 2019
The interdenominational commiseration service which was held at Parkway Event Centre, Lagos, attracted professionals from different walks of life, including philosophers, journalists, doctors, lawyers, bookwriters, artisans and artists amongst others who came to pay tribute to him.
So many of the people who were present at the interdenominational commiseration service stated that they had not met Prof. Pius Adesanmi in person but they had only had the privilege of reading many of his works while he was alive.
According to one of the professor’s former colleague at Carleton University, Canada, Molara Wood, who was present at the service described Prof. Pius Adesanmi as a thoughtful and insightful human being, who beamed with kindness and decency at all times. She said that “Had that plane not dropped from the sky, Prof. Pius Adesanmi would have become the “Juggernaut of African Thought.” He never gave chance for odds to deter his relationships with people, no matter the strata. He was always in charge of knowledge despite a prolific writer and speaker the world has already known him to be.
She added that Prof. Pius Adesanmi is one major human being that Nigerian youths must emulate especially his consistent passion for education. She called on all Nigerian youths to be passionate about education.
In the words of a book writer, Olusegun Adeniyi, Prof. Pius Adesanmi was too young to die at 47. But he however when ahead to add that, as the saying goes, “It is not the years in one’s life that counts, but the life in one’s years.” He stated that many will continuously read Adesanmi’s works till ages, so in memories, Adesanmi lives on.
Phillip Adekunle, another sympathizer vowed to immortalise the late professor with village libraries. He stated that he and his colleagues will embark on plans to kick off village libraries in memory of the late professor.