Fifty most influential people in Ogun

                    A review by Bayo Ogunmupe

    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 in Nigeria. This who's who in Ogun state is a publication of the Prestige Newspapers, Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was first published in Abeokuta, in 2018. Its authors are Dada Olanipekun, Chris Omotosho, Wale Afuape and Biodun Ogunyemi.

    Fifty most influential people is in paperback with 298 pages. It is illustrated with the pictures of every person chosen. From this volume you will discover that Ogun state people are enlightened and blessed with human resources. The gateway state: Ogun being the state closest to the sea coast of Lagos lagoon;  the state is through which western education entered Nigeria. By embracing western education Ogun can boast of people of stature in every field of human endeavor. 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 who's who.

    The personalities captured in this book are not only indigenes of Ogun state, the authors extended their tentacles to identify some distinct men and women who are not indigenous to Ogun state but who have contributed to the growth of the state. The philosophy behind this project is that people ought to be celebrated when they are alive and that documents and memoirs of heroes should be documented for generations to come.

    Initially 100 men and women were targeted for this project. But 50 people met up with criteria and deadline with most of the respondents preferring lucid and well written biographies. Those captured by this volume are not all indigenes of Ogun state. Some of those captured aren't indigenous to Ogun state; they were so chosen because of their contribution to the development of the state.

    This book is the first volume of an on going project of collating the most influential people in Ogun state every four years. A good number of outstanding personalities dead and alive had contributed and still contributing to the development of Ogun state have been left out because our 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 becoming  a General and military ruler from 13 February 1976 to 1 October, 1979 and an elected President from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. Obasanjo was married four times and has 20 children.

    The second entry into this book is Professor Wole Soyinka. Born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka on 13 July, 1934 in Abeokuta, he grew up in an Anglican mission compound where his father worked as an Anglican minister and school teacher. A precocious genius who made adults cite comments: "He will kill you with his questions." After leaving the University of Ibadan with a third class degree in the Arts in 1954, Soyinka proceeded to England to continue his education at the University of Leeds where he served as Editor of its magazine, The Eagle.

    Soyinka graduated with a first class bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature in 1958, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Leeds in 1972. In 1986, Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Upon the award, 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. According to The Guardian Nigeria, 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. After being cured of prostate cancer in 10 months, his admirers adorn him a "Kongi."

    My last icon of education in Ogun state isn't indigenous to the state. He is Dr Olusegun Aluko, 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 the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he bagged B.Sc and M.Sc 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 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 and now armed with a Ph.D in environmental management, for his selfless and meritorious service he was appointed rector of the institution. As a married man and dedicated academic, Dr 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 the Prestige Newspaper. He has been the chair of the Association of Nigerian Authors in Ogun state since 2015. Dr Chris Omotosho is a member of the staff of the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta where he teaches Dramatic Literature and Literary Criticism. Abbey Ogunyemi is broadcast journalist. He retired as manager, News, at the Nigerian Television Authority, Ijebu-Ode. Last but not the least is Dr Olawale Afuape of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. He teaches Communication Skills at the Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa.