D. A. Ọbasá: The Man and the Significance of his Cultural Activism

Abstract

Tis essay explores Adenrele ́ ́ Adetí mi ̀ ́kan Ò basa ̣ ’s creative ingenuity and ́ how he put that into use as a poet, cultural activist, journalist, printer, and publisher of a bilingual newspaper, The Yorùba News. The essay traces Obasa’s history; right from his birth to the period he became a renowned Yorùbá intellectual. The cultural identity theory which studies a person’s sense of belonging to a particular culture and accepting the traditions, heritage, language, religion, and social structures of such culture is adopted for the analysis in this study. The study shows how Obasa ̣ ́ projects himself as a unique individual who used Yorùbá culture to connect people. The essay concludes that Obasa ̣ ́ is a lover of his indigenous culture and language.