Fifty Most Influential People in Ogun State is volume one of Who’s Who in Ogun State. The book is a collection of resume and memoirs of 50 people of Ogun State extraction. This Who’s Who is a publication of Prestige newspapers, Abeokuta. It was first published in Abeokuta in 2018. Its authors are Dada Olanipekun, Chris Omotosho, Wale Afuape and Biodun Ogunyemi.
Fifty Most Influential People in Ogun State illustrated with the pictures of every person featured. From the volume you discover that people of Ogun State are enlightened and blessed with human resources. It is the Gateway State. Ogun, being the closest to the sea coast of Lagos lagoon, is where western education entered Nigeria. By embracing western education, Ogun can boast of people of stature in every field of human endeavour. The need to document the heroic deeds of those who have contributed to the growth of the state spurred Prestige newspapers to take up the task of collating this important Who’s Who.
The personalities captured in this book are not only indigenes of the state, the authors extend their tentacles to identify some distinct men and women who are not indigenous to Ogun State, but who have contributed to its growth. The philosophy behind the project is that people ought to be celebrated when they are alive and that documents and memoirs of heroes should be made for posterity.
Initially 100 men and women were targeted for the project. But 50 people met the criteria set and the deadline, with most of the respondents preferring lucid and well-written biographies.
This book is the first volume of an ongoing project of collating the most influential people in Ogun State, which will be done every four years. A good number of outstanding personalities dead and alive have contributed and still contributing to the development of the state has been left out because the focus is limited to those active and alive. The structure of the book is largely experimental as some were interviewed to further inform readers on the essence of living an eventful and purposeful life.
This Who’s Who in Ogun State opens with the biodata of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Born in 1937 at Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo became an orphan at 22 but attended schools at Ibogun and Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta. He enlisted in the army and became a General and military ruler from February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979 and an elected president from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007. Obasanjo was married four times and has 20 children.
The second entry into the book is Professor Wole Soyinka. Born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka on July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta, he grew up in an Anglican Mission compound where his father worked as an Anglican minister and schoolteacher. A precocious genius who made adults comments: “He will kill you with his questions.” After leaving University College Ibadan with a third class degree in English in 1954, Soyinka proceeded to England to continue his education at University of Leeds where he served as editor of its magazine, The Eagle. He was awarded honorary doctorate degree by University of Leeds in 1972. In 1986, Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel Committee in its citation said: “The playwright in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones, fashions the drama of existence.”
As Nigeria’s foremost man of letters, Soyinka is still politically active, spending the February 2019 election week monitoring electoral irregularities and ballot box snatching. Soyinka has been married thrice; he married the British writer Barbara Dixon in 1958, Olaide Idowu, a Nigerian librarian, in 1963 and Folake Doherty, his current wife, in 1989. His admirers adorn him a ‘Kongi.’
One of the last icons of education in Ogun State is not an indigenous of the state, Dr. Olusegun Aluko. He is a former rector of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro. Born on 13 May 1960 in Osogbo, Osun state, he is a native of Mopa, Kogi State. After primary education at Osun and secondary at Kwara, he proceeded to study architecture at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he bagged BSc and MSc degrees in architecture in 1982 and 1985 respectively.
Courtesy his Youth Service at Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State, Aluko was appointed lecturer in architecture but for the love of adventure he transferred his service to the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, as Lecturer Grade 11 in 1988. He was promoted Chief Lecturer in 2007; he now has a PhD in environmental management. For his selfless and meritorious service, he was appointed rector of the institution. As a married man and dedicated academic, Aluko has proven to be a successful architect of human, physical and organizational structures.
For the authors of the paperback: Dada Olanipekun is the founder of Prestige newspaper. He has been the chairman of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in Ogun State since 2015. Dr. Chris Omotosho is a member of staff of Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, where he teaches Dramatic Literature and Literary Criticism. Abbey Ogunyemi is a broadcast journalist. He retired as manager, News, at Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Ijebu-Ode. Last but not the least is Dr. Olawale Afuape of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. He teaches Communication Skills at Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa.
