By Professor Idowu Olayinka
*Photo: Professor Ayo Banjo
Professor Emeritus or Emeritus Professor, Excellent or Outstanding?: In special appreciation of Ayo Banjo (1934 to 2024)
There was a recent debate among Nigerian academics as to the correct usage of Professor Emeritus or Emeritus Professor. In a sense both are apparently correct depending on the context. We can only ask for expert opinion from the people in English. One of such eminent scholars was the late Professor Ladipo Ayodeji Banjo, hereinafter also referred to simply as Professor Ayo Banjo, lately Emeritus Professor of English Language at the University of Ibadan.
In a private email message he sent to me on 6th May 2022, the late Professor Ayo Banjo signed off as follows:
AB
Ayo Banjo
Emeritus Professor of English Language
University of Ibadan
Tel: ABCDEFGHIJK
So, in effect his correct designation would be Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo, Emeritus Professor of English Language.
On a related matter of the correct usage of English words, a few years ago, one of the most successful former students of the late Professor Ayo Banjo said her famous teacher (Banjo) once chastised her for not knowing the difference between ‘excellent’ and ‘outstanding’. Indeed Banjo was right as there is a difference between the two words.
Excellent typically means something is of very high quality, surpassing expectations, and demonstrating exceptional skill or performance. It implies a high level of achievement, but still within the bounds of what is expected or anticipated.
Outstanding, on the other hand, suggests something that stands out from the rest, exceeding expectations, and often in a remarkable or extraordinary way. It implies a level of achievement that is not only high but also distinctive, notable, and potentially groundbreaking.
To illustrate the difference:
- “The restaurant serves excellent food” (high quality, but expected)
- “The restaurant serves outstanding food” (exceptional, remarkable, and stands out from others)
In summary, excellent is about meeting high standards, while outstanding is about surpassing them and making a lasting impression.
But for the highly referred Ayo Banjo, who earned a Ph.D in the English Language in 1969 and was elevated to the grade of Professor in the same discipline in 1975, many of us might not have been aware of the difference between excellent and outstanding, or at best inadvertently use both words interchangeably. What are teachers for apart from continuing to mentor their wards!
Ayo Banjo passed on in the early hours of Friday 24th May 2024, some 22 days after his 90th birthday. Rest in peace, our dear Emeritus Professor of English Language. We pray that your kind will return among us again and again.
Note: I acknowledge Dr Kayode Omotade, Senior Lecturer in the Department of European Studies, University of Ibadan, for the additional notes he provided me.
*Idowu Olayinka is a former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan