This Niyi Osundare biography tells the story of one of Nigeria’s best-known living poets. Osundare wrote Not My Business, one of the African poems on the WAEC and NECO syllabus for 2026 to 2030. Knowing about his life will help you understand why his poetry speaks so strongly about justice and freedom.

Niyi Osundare biography: quick facts

Early life in Ikere-Ekiti

Osundare grew up in Ikere-Ekiti, a Yoruba town in south-western Nigeria. In one poem, he describes himself as farmer-born and peasant-bred. His father was a respected village musician, and his grandfather was a traditional healer.

As a boy, Osundare followed his grandfather into the forest to gather roots and herbs. He heard the chants and songs that went with healing. Through these experiences, he learned early about the power of nature and the power of words. Both would shape his poetry for life.

Education

Osundare attended St Luke’s Primary School and Amoye Grammar School in Ikere-Ekiti, then Christ’s School in Ado-Ekiti. Later, he studied English at the University of Ibadan, graduating in 1972. He went on to earn a master’s degree at the University of Leeds in England, then a PhD at York University in Toronto, Canada, in 1979.

Career as a scholar and journalist

Back in Nigeria, Osundare joined the University of Ibadan, where he became a professor in 1989. He also served as Head of the Department of English from 1993 to 1997.

Alongside teaching, he reached ordinary readers through a regular poetry column in the Tribune newspaper from 1985. This column helped take poetry out of the classroom and into the marketplace.

In 1997, he moved to the United States to become a professor of English at the University of New Orleans. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded his home there. He and his wife spent about 26 hours trapped in their attic until a neighbour with a boat heard their cries and rescued them. He later turned the experience into a collection, City Without People: The Katrina Poems (2011).

Major works

Osundare is a prolific writer with many collections to his name. Among the best known are:

Songs of the Marketplace (1983). His first collection, full of the voices of everyday people.

Village Voices (1984). Poems rooted in rural Yoruba life.

The Eye of the Earth (1986). A celebration of the land and nature, and his most famous collection.

Moonsongs (1988) and Waiting Laughters (1990). Two highly praised collections that blend oral forms with modern themes.

Songs of the Season (1990) and Midlife (1993). Further collections from his most productive years.

City Without People: The Katrina Poems (2011). Poems about surviving the New Orleans floods.

Green: Sighs of Our Ailing Planet (2022). A recent collection about the environment.

Awards and honours

The Eye of the Earth won both the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize in 1986. Waiting Laughters won the NOMA Award in 1991, then one of Africa’s most important book prizes.

Osundare has also received the Tchicaya U Tam’si Prize for African Poetry and the Fonlon/Nichols Award, which honours both writing and the defence of human rights. In 2014, he received the Nigerian National Order of Merit, one of the country’s highest academic honours.

Style and beliefs

Osundare’s poetry draws on the oral tradition of Yoruba culture, with its songs, chants and proverbs. He mixes these with influences from poets around the world. His language is usually clear and musical, and he loves to perform his poems aloud.

Above all, he believes poetry should serve society. He has defended free speech throughout his career, summed up in his famous phrase that to utter is to alter. Not My Business puts this belief into action by showing the danger of staying silent. For more on the poem’s context, read our guide to the background of Not My Business.

Not My Business beyond Nigeria

The poem has travelled far. For years, it was a compulsory text on the AQA GCSE English syllabus in the United Kingdom, studied by thousands of British students. Its message about silence and injustice speaks to readers everywhere.

Using the poet’s life in the exam

Examiners sometimes ask about the poet directly, so this Niyi Osundare biography is worth revising. More often, however, his life helps you explain a theme. For example, his lifelong defence of free speech explains why the poem condemns silence. Explore the themes in Not My Business, practise with our questions and answers, or visit the complete study guide.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Niyi Osundare?

A Nigerian poet, playwright and professor, born in 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

Where did Niyi Osundare study?

At the University of Ibadan, the University of Leeds and York University in Canada.

What awards has Niyi Osundare won?

They include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (1986), the NOMA Award (1991) and the Nigerian National Order of Merit (2014).

What is Niyi Osundare’s famous saying?

He often says that to utter is to alter, meaning that speaking out can change things.