How Soyinka led Pyrates Confraternity to give Jeyifo befitting burial

By Nehru Odeh

It was a solemn yet symbolic farewell on Wednesday as Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka led members of the National Association of Seadogs, popularly known as the Pyrates Confraternity, to pay their final respects to renowned scholar Biodun Jeyifo at the Anglican Cemetery, St James the Great Cathedral Burial Ground, Ijokodo, Ibadan.

Jeyifo, a distinguished literary critic, public intellectual, Marxist scholar and committed trade unionist, died on February 11, barely one month and five days after family, friends and former students celebrated his 80th birthday in Lagos.

As mourners from across the country quietly filed into the cemetery, including members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), where Jeyifo served as pioneer president, members of the Pyrates Confraternity were already assembled, dressed in their traditional white shirts, black trousers and red regalia.

They sang, drummed and danced in their customary “sailing” ritual while awaiting the arrival of Soyinka.

Moments later, the Nobel laureate arrived and led the ceremonial procession. Holding a sword aloft, Soyinka walked solemnly towards Jeyifo’s graveside as fellow Pyrates sailed alongside him, chanting traditional confraternity songs, including the well-known refrain: “Another sayle, Jellu sayle / Pyrates are sailing to Tortuga.”

At the graveside, the atmosphere turned deeply reflective as Soyinka and the Pyrates paid their final tribute to a man widely respected for his intellectual influence and unwavering commitment to social justice.

Present at the burial were Jeyifo’s children-Okunola, Lekan and Ayoka, as well as his grandchildren and close associates.

As the Pyrates sang another farewell anthem, “Pyrates sail again / We shall sail on earth / We shall sail in heaven / Pyrates sail again,” it became evident that Jeyifo had lived a life deeply intertwined with the ideals of scholarship, activism and camaraderie.

The Pyrates Confraternity was founded in 1952 at University College Ibadan by Soyinka and six others known as the “Magnificent Seven.”

The organisation later evolved into the National Association of Seadogs, a humanitarian group known for advocacy for good governance, social justice and charity.

In keeping with tradition, the group accorded Jeyifo a symbolic “Pyratical burial,” a ceremonial farewell that celebrates the life of departed members as they “sail on to Elysium.”

Following the burial rites, members of Jeyifo’s family and colleagues paid a courtesy visit to the Rashidi Ladoja, further honouring the late scholar’s enduring legacy within the intellectual and cultural life of Ibadan.

Through the ceremony, Soyinka and the Pyrates Confraternity celebrated Jeyifo not only as a devoted member of the brotherhood but also as a towering figure in African literary scholarship and progressive thought.