Ademola is an Assistant Professor, Postcolonial Literatures, in the Department of English, Languages, and Cultures. Prior to his appointment at MRU Ademola taught literature at the International College of Manitoba, University of Manitoba. He has worked in Nigeria as a journalist on the Arts Desk of The Nation Newspapers and as a lecturer at Kings University, Nigeria. 

Scholarly Interests:
My research and teaching interests are multidisciplinary and lie at the intersection of Postcolonial Literatures, African/Black Diaspora Literatures, Child Soldier Narratives, War and Literature, Popular Culture, and Human Rights Issues. I have published essays and book chapters on African literature and sociopolitical issues. My forthcoming monograph explores literary representations of contemporary African child soldiers. My articles, book chapters, and reviews have appeared in different publications and they largely engage the literary and cultural productions of African and Black diaspora writers. My research and teaching interests celebrate epistemic differences and underline the invaluable significance of knowledge systems that have over time been disparaged, sidelined, and undervalued.

Teaching Statement: 
I always adopt mixed teaching methods that combine the use of technology and digital media interaction, lecture, student presentation, and group work. I innovate with different teaching and assignment practices and text selections. In the class discussions of selected course materials, I do unwaveringly prioritize individual student’s perspective and contribution. The goal of these practices is to bring out my students’ expressive best, grow their capacity to generate and articulate ideas, and encourage them to be critical receivers of ideas and information. My overall aim is always to make every class into a story worth telling, into one of those stories that we live by. I am interested in using stories to help students hone their writing and critical thinking skills, and to examine from varied perspective what it means – for them and others – to live in and experience the world in its many complexities and contradictions.

Selected Publications:
Representations of Child Soldiers in Contemporary African Narratives. Lexington Books, 2024. (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666954500/Representations-of-Child-Soldiers-in-Contemporary-African-Narratives)

“The Signifying Fighter: Afropessimism in Dongala’s Johnny Mad Dog.” Oye: Journal of Language, Literature and Popular Culture, vol. 3, no. 1, 2024, pp. 53-70. (https://www.academia.edu/116422585/Oye_Vol_3_No_1)

“Child Soldier Narratives and the Underrepresentation of Females in Fighting Forces.” International Research in Children’s Literature, vol. 17, no. 2, 2024, pp. 160-173. (https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/ircl.2024.0561)

‘“The Face of the Buffalo’: Interspecies Relationality in Nawal El Saadawi’s God Dies by the Nile. (Co-authored with Uchechukwu Umezurike) Journal of Global postcolonial Studies, 2024 (https://journals.upress.ufl.edu/jgps/article/view/2254)

“Notes on the Nervous Condition of Black and African Immigrants in Canada” The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race, and Belonging, edited by Benjamin Maiangwa, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, pp. 111-127. (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-38797-5)

“On Blackness and Related Subjects: Concluding Conversations.” The Paradox(es) of Diasporic Identity, Race, and Belonging, edited by Benjamin Maiangwa, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, pp. 245-264. (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-38797-5)

Celebratory Words: Tributes in Honour of Professor Olusegun Adesina Adekoya on the Occasion of His Retirement and 70th Birthday. Edited by Ademola Adesola and Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba. Write Right Publishing, 2023. 

“In Celebration of a Teacher, Scholar, and Mentor.” Celebratory Words: Tributes in Honour of Professor Olusegun Adesina Adekoya on the Occasion of His Retirement and 70th Birthday. Edited by Ademola Adesola and Chigbo Arthur Anyaduba. Write Right Publishing, 2023, pp. 15-19.

"Tragedy and Resilience in Lagos – The Truth About Sadia by Lola Akande." Africa in Words, 2023. (https://africainwords.com/2023/11/10/review-tragedy-and-resilience-in-lagos-the-truth-about-sadia-by-lola-akande/)

“African Thinkers Analyse Some of the Big Issues of Our Time – Race, Belonging and Identity.” The Conversation, October 2023 (https://theconversation.com/book-review-african-thinkers-analyse-some-of-the-big-issues-of-our-time-race-belonging-and-identity-212815)

“A Tale of Two Fighters: Images of Child Soldiers in Jewish and African Child Soldier Narratives.” Journal of the African Literature Association, vol. 16, no. 1, 2022, pp. 166-180. (https://doi.org/10.1080/21674736.2021.2015824)

A Review of Writing That Break Stones: African Child Soldier Narratives, by Joya Uraizee. The Journal of African Literature Association, Fall 2022, vol.16, no. 3, pp.535-537.

Selected Grants, Honours, and Awards:
EDI Opportunity Fund (for project on African and Black Writings in Canada Speaker Series: Enhancing EDI Via Stories and Conversations) 2023

Dr. Vernon B. Rhodenizer Graduate Scholarship (awarded for my doctoral dissertation at the University of Manitoba) 2022

Berdie and Irvin Cohen Scholarship in Peace and Conflict Studies, 2022

Biking and playing recreational tennis are some of Ademola’s cherished pastimes.