It has been confirmed that a popular Nigerian columnist based in Canada, Prof. Pius Adesanmi, was among the victims of the ill-fated Ethiopia Airlines Flight ET302 that crashed on its way to Nairobi from Addis Ababa on Sunday morning, killing 157 persons on board.
The Nigerian-born Professor however travelled with his Canadian passport.
There are also unconfirmed reports that a Nigerian diplomat working with an international organization was on board the ill-fated flight.
Prof. Adesanmi was writer and literary critic, satirist and columnist. He was the author of Naija No Dey Carry Last, a collection of satirical essays.
Adesanmi was born in Isanlu, in Yagba East Local Government area of Kogi State, Nigeria. He had a BA (first class honours) from the University of Ilorin in 1992, a Masters in French from the University of Ibadan in 1998, and a PhD in French Studies from the University of British Columbia in 2002.
From 2002 to 2005, he was Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. In 2006, he joined Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada as a Professor of literature and African studies. He has also been a Fellow of the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) from 1993 to 1997, as well as of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) in 1998 and 2000.
For many years, Adesanmi was a regular columnist for Premium Timesand Sahara Reporters.
