Chief Diipo Fagunwa is an author, adult educator, cultural advocate and the only surviving son of the celebrated Yoruba-language novelist Chief Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa. Born in Okeigbo, Ondo State, he has devoted a significant part of his life to preserving, interpreting and advancing the remarkable literary and cultural inheritance established by his father.

He studied Philosophy at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Adult Education at the University of Ibadan, and Disability Management in London. He formerly lectured in the Department of Continuing Education at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and has written extensively on adult learning, indigenous knowledge and Yoruba systems of education.

Chief Fagunwa is the founder and Chief Executive of Elderly Care and Support Services, an organisation concerned with the welfare and support of older persons. His professional interests have also extended to disability management, social support and community-centred education. He serves as a Trustee of the Fagunwa Life and Works Initiative Incorporated, which works to sustain public engagement with his father’s writings and encouraged new approaches to their study, presentation and transmission to younger generations.

As a creative writer, he is the author of Ifewumi: The Travails of Inulayewa, an ambitious work of fantasy and moral adventure inspired by the narrative tradition made famous by his father. Originally conceived in Yoruba and subsequently rewritten in English for a wider readership, the novel draws upon Yoruba folklore, proverbs, poetry, spirituality and traditional ideas concerning character, courage and human destiny.

Through his writing, scholarship and stewardship of the Fagunwa legacy, Chief Diipo Fagunwa has become an important link between one of Africa’s greatest indigenous literary traditions and a new global generation of readers.