AAU Alumni Celebrate Keyamo’s SAN Elevation

The Swedish Academy stunned the world last year when it awarded the Nobel Literature Prize to US counter-culture icon and rock star Bob Dylan. This year, experts say, the laureate will be more conventional.

Weeks of speculation and buzz about the Academy’s pick for 2017 will come to an end on Thursday at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT), when its permanent secretary Sara Danius announces this year’s winner.

Not only are the 18 Academy members expected to go with a more orthodox choice, predictions are that they will also honour someone who enjoys broad consensus and is seen as Nobel-worthy, with the institution keen to avoid the media spectacle surrounding Dylan’s win.

The first singer-songwriter to win the prestigious prize, the rock legend didn’t comment on his Nobel for several weeks and then snubbed the formal prize ceremony in Stockholm.

“The Academy is actually a very discreet society and we shouldn’t expect anything sensational” this year, Clemens Poellinger, literary critic for Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, told AFP.

So who will get the nod?

The Academy is known for its cloak-and-dagger methods to prevent any leaks, resorting to code names for authors and fake book covers when reading in public.

Pundits therefore try to dissect the Academy’s latest interests to guess the winner, while punters have a field day on betting sites.

On Wednesday, novelists Haruki Murakami of Japan and Ngugi wa Thiong’o of Kenya had the lowest odds on numerous sites. They were followed by Canada’s Margaret Atwood, whose novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” was recently made into a well-received TV series, and Israel’s Amos Oz.

Keyamo

The alumni association of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, has felicitated with popular Lagos lawyer and social activist, Mr. Festus Keyamo, on his recent elevation as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN).

At a reception in Lagos organised by Festus Keyamo Chambers for friends and wellwishers, president of AAU alumni worldwide, Prof. Omi Ujuanbi, who led a strong delegation of other distinguished alumni of the university, said the association was proud of Keyamo for his achievements as a human rights lawyer and a crusader for justice and an egalitarian society. He noted that Keyamo, who graduated from the university with a degree in law in 1992, has done his alma mater proud with this elevation to the highest peak of the legal practice in Nigeria.

Acknowledging the tenacity of Keyamo, Ujuanbi said: “The honour done you is testimony to your unequalled appetite for hard work and uncommon achievements within a seemingly short period of your law practice.”

He presented a plaque to Keyamo on behalf of the AAU alumni association and urged him to partner with the alumni body to seek ways to give back to university that built the foundation for what every alumnus has become today.

Keyamo’s Class (Law’92) also honoured him at the event, which was attended by many legal luminaries, traditional rulers, captains of industry, and politicians including Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Senator Daisy Danjuma, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs SAN, former Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Aderemi Ikufuruji, APC’s former governorship candidate in Delta, Mr. Otega Emerhor, among others.

Gsent Talks.....Taking You Further