In the Moonlight of Memory: Adisas’ Tribute to the Legendary Prof. Zulu Sofola and Her Enduring Legacy 30 Years After Her Passing

By 

R. M. Adisa PhD

Department of Mass Communication

University of Ilorin, Nigeria

The name Professor Onuekwuke Nwazulu Sofola, or just 'Mama' as she was affectionately known to those of us who had the blessing of being near her light, carries the weight of history. She was the matriarch, the pioneer, the first published female playwright and the first female Professor of Theatre Arts in Africa. Yet, for me, Rasaq Adisa, her greatness was not defined by the titles she held, but by the extraordinary kindness she carried in her heart, a kindness that was rooted deeply in the shared soil of Issele-Uku.

Prof. Zulu Sofola 

My own mother, Late Mrs. Bedau Adisa, spoke of a childhood bound up with Zulu, a friendship forged in the dusty paths of Ogbeutu and Ogbennti quarters in Issele-Uku, Delta State before the Atlantic Ocean ever separated them. That bond was a quiet, deep thing, and it was powerfully reignited when 'Mama' Zulu joined the faculty at the University of Ilorin. This reunion was so profound that it inspired a piece of her enduring literary legacy: Memories in the Moonlight, in 1986 which she confided was a reflection of their shared, innocent youth.

Mrs. Bedau Adisa 

It was in the GRA Staff Quarters of Unilorin, sharing the home with 'Mama' Zulu and her beloved husband, Prof. Jafeto Adeyemi Sofola, that I truly learned the meaning of humility draped in genius. Prof. Zulu Sofola's compassion transcended religious lines. Though a devout Christian, she would set the alarm on her table clock for Sahur, the pre-dawn Ramadan meal, just to ensure I woke up for my fast, and she always had fresh fruits ready for me to break my fast at sundown. Her husband too, mirrored this open heart; I remember him sponsoring his own mother's pilgrimage to Hajj. They were a testament to love and mutual respect. Despite her international distinction, a scholar who wove our native icons like "mother Mkpitime" and the names of Issele-Uku compounds like Ogbenntin into the fabric of her plays, she was never too grand for anyone.

Prof Sofola 

I remember one afternoon, after fuelling her car at the Post Office Total petrol station, rather than rushing home, instead, she parked, and for what must have been an hour, sat there meticulously attending to a student’s project. A Professor of her stature, the first woman to hold the chair of a Theatre Department, sacrificing a comfortable return home from mini-campus to GRA quarters, for one student. That moment, in a busy petrol station, told me everything about her compassionate and kind-hearted nature. Her priority was never prestige; it was always the spread of knowledge.

The crowning memory, however, belongs to her Inaugural Lecture at the African Hall. Watching her, magnificent and respected, walk in procession with a sea of other professors, filled my mother, Bedau, with an irrepressible pride. When we returned to the GRA quarters, my mother looked at 'Mama' Zulu, her childhood friend, her pioneer sister, and declared with an almost prophetic certainty that all her own children would be educated to any level they desired.

That declaration became a destiny, a guiding star lit by Zulu Sofola's example. Now, years later, I stand here, on a Professorial rank myself, in the very same University of Ilorin where she has been edified with her status in front of the Performing Arts Lecture Theater. This is not irony; it is the powerful fulfillment of a dream birthed from a shared history and nourished by a legacy of scholarship and selfless mentorship.

We remember her powerful voice, through  her best selling 15 published plays.

Her life was a brilliant play, a masterpiece of cultural pride, academic excellence, and personal grace. She did not just blaze a trail; she illuminated a path for generations to come.

 Celebration of Life, The Deer and