Soyinka Leads Pyrates Confraternity to Bid Farewell to Ex-ASUU President Biodun Jeyifo

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka on Wednesday led members of the National Association of Seadogs, popularly known as the Pyrates Confraternity, in a symbolic farewell for renowned literary scholar Biodun Jeyifo in Ibadan.

The solemn ceremony took place at the Anglican Cemetery, St James the Great Cathedral Burial Ground in the Ijokodo area of Ibadan, where members of the confraternity performed traditional “sailing” rites to honour the late intellectual.

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

As mourners began arriving at the cemetery on Wednesday, members of the Pyrates Confraternity were already assembled in their distinctive attire—white shirts, black trousers and red regalia, singing, drumming and performing ritual dances as they awaited Soyinka’s arrival.

The Nobel laureate later joined the group and led a ceremonial procession to the graveside. Holding a sword aloft, Soyinka walked slowly ahead while fellow Pyrates followed in formation, chanting confraternity songs including the familiar refrain: “Another sayle, Jellu sayle / Pyrates are sailing to Tortuga.”

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The atmosphere turned reflective as the group gathered around the grave to pay their final respects to the late scholar, whose career spanned decades of teaching, activism and intellectual engagement.

Among those present were Jeyifo’s children, Okunola, Lekan and Ayoka, along with grandchildren, colleagues and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), where he served as pioneer president.

As the ceremony drew to a close, the Pyrates sang another farewell anthem: “Pyrates sail again / We shall sail on earth / We shall sail in heaven / Pyrates sail again.”

The ritual formed part of a traditional “Pyratical burial,” a ceremonial rite reserved for members of the confraternity to mark their symbolic passage to Elysium.

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

Over the years, the group evolved into the National Association of Seadogs, a humanitarian organisation involved in advocacy for social justice, good governance and charitable causes.

After the burial ceremony, members of Jeyifo’s family and associates paid a courtesy visit to former Rashidi Ladoja, further honouring the late scholar’s place in the intellectual and cultural life of Ibadan.

Through the rites, Soyinka and members of the confraternity celebrated Jeyifo not only as a fellow Pyrate but also as a towering figure in African literary scholarship and progressive thought.