User:Daretaiwo/sandbox

OLUDARE TAIWO
Oludare Taiwo was born on October 27, 1970 at Randle General Hospital Surulere, Lagos, to the family of Engineer Samuel Obafunmilayo Taiwo and Mrs Abiola Olaide Taiwo (nee Ademeji).

He is the third child and the second boy of the Family.

He lived with his Parents and older Siblings (his immediate younger sibling was born in 1975)in 23 Ladoke Akintola Street, GRA Ikeja, Lagos till 1973 when his Parents separated. He was subsequently put in the custody of his Mother with his older siblings.

He was thereafter taken to Aiyepe, Ijebu, in Ogun State, with his siblings, to live with his great Aunt - his grand mother's younger Sister in Ilakan Community of Aiyepe.

He decided with his siblings, without the fore knowledge of his Mother, to relocate to Afo Quarters of Aiyepe to live with his maternal Grandmother in 1974.

He was enrolled in Holy Trinity Anglican Primary School in 1976. By 1979/80, at the age of 9years, he was asked to join the Drama group of his primary, where he was part of the group that represented his School in Ogun State Drama Competition for all the Primary Schools in Ogun State. The title of the School Drama Presentation was Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' His School came first in the Competitions in Odogbolu and Ijebu Ode but came third in the Abeokuta division of the competition. He was however not in the ensemble to Abeokuta because of ill health. It shouldbe noted that the position of the Drama group in Abeokuta had nothing to do with his absence.

In 1980, he got a transfer from the School to Lagos to stay with his Mother in the Bariga area of Lagos.

He was enrolled in Odunsi Primary School in a riverine community of Bariga, which is over an hour by foot from his abode. He didn't particularly like the School because of the distance, the environment and the structure of the School - It was a Jakande School. Fortune smiled on him, one day, when Staff of the local School Management Board came to his School to ask for Students that were willing to relocate to a new School, which is just 30minutes by foot from his abode. The School also boasts of Modern Structures. This was how, on his own volition, he trasferred himself to Somolu Local Government (SLG) Primary School, now Temple Primary School, after a two month stint in Odunsi Primary School.

In 1982, he got admitted to Baptist Academy, Obanikoro, for his Post Primary School education.

In the months between his graduation from the Primary and his resumption to Baptist Academy Obanikoro, he visited his Father, who was then the Chief Engineer in a Federal Government Parastatal in Festac Town, to ask his Father to buy him a bicycle. His Father declined and instead ordered him to go and pack his clothes from his Mother's to Festac Town. This was how he came to live with his Father from 1982. His Father, after separating from his Mother, remarried in 1974. The Marriage was blessed by Five siblings, who are all Professionals in their chosen fields of endeavours. His immediate older sibling, Bunmi, was already staying with their Father. It was with her and his younger siblings that Oludare Taiwo, came to live with his Father in Festac Town. The siblings, despite coming from separate Mothers, were close. It would take only a relation of the Family to know that they were not of the same Mothers. They remain tightly knitted till day. Going to live in Festac was a fundamental change in Oludare’s life. While he was an over-pampered Mummy’s boy while staying with his Mother, his Father was a disciplinarian who would not spare the rod for any misdemeanor. The regulated freedom his enjoyed while staying with his Mother was now substituted with total movement restriction. Going to school gave him reprieve from this restricted live. He saw leaving home in the morning for School in the morning as an opportunity to enjoy momentary freedom from 8a.m to 2p.m. This was the era of John Player Gold leaf Dancing Competition. In School, he became friends with two older friends, who by the way, were semi-independent and Dare soon joined the flow. In a bid to enjoy the daily independence that going to public School afforded him, he started skipping School with these friends. This went on for four years until he failed he promotional examinations to Form 5 and hence, was asked to repeat. During this period, his Father had been transferred as the Project Manager for the Eastern Region of the Federal Parastatal he was working with. The Regional Office office was situated in Owerri, Imo State. In 1986, he went with his one older Sibling and five younger Siblings to spend the summer vacation with his Father in Owerri. Having a fore knowledge of his promotional examination result, he approached his Father to transfer him from Lagos to Owerri. His father vehemently turned down this request. This made him to seek the face of God in order to get his Father to change his mind. God moved and without informing him, his Father started local for a Secondary School in Owerri, Imo State. Because of his dismal performance in his promotional examination in Baptist Academy, he was, thankfully admitted into Emmanuel College Owerri but was directed to repeat Form 4. His enrolment in Emmanuel College, Owerri, was the turning point in his life. With excellent and dedicated Teachers, within one month of enrolment, he became a force to be reckoned with academically among his peers. Mathematics subject, which he had aversion for Baptist Academy, became his best and favorite subject in Emmanuel College Owerri. By the time he sat for his School Certificate Examinations in 1988, it was a work over for him as he graduated with seven Distinctions in Mathematics, English Language, Bible Knowledge, Economics, Literature In English, Government, Biology and a Credit in Commerce. In his final year in Secondary School, he was made the Food Prefect, which was a big post. It is worthy of note that in his final year in School, he and another Student in Form one, were the only students of Yoruba extraction in the whole of the School. This did not prevent the School Management from appointing him as the Refectorian in his final year in School and he remains forever thankful to God for this recognition. At the approach of his School Certificate Examinations, he voluntarily stepped down as a Food Prefect, to concentrate on his Examinations. He sat for JAMB in 1989 and got a score of 238. 1989 opened a new vista in his life. That year, he was sent packing from his Father house during a feud and he relocated to his Mother’s house in Isolo. Withot the financial backing of his Father, he could not enter into the University in 1989 and his hope of getting a sponsor for his Tertiary education hung on a balance. In 1990, The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board introduced JAMB for Polytechnic Entrance. He saw this as an opportunity to, at least, get his National Diploma, then seek employment thereafter to enable him accumulate funds to further his education. While he was in his second year at the Yaba College of Technology, he got reconciled with his Father but he never moved back with his Father again. He graduated with an Upper Credit in Accountancy for his National Diploma and proceeded for Industrial Attachment in 1993. It was during his Industrial Attachment that he enrolled for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. With God on his side, he got admitted to The Yaba College of Technology for his Higher National Diploma; this he combined with his Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigerian (ICAN) Professional Examinations. With funding miraculously provided by God, he wrote his ICAN Final Examinations two weeks to his Higher National Diploma Examinations and got qualified as a Chartered Accountant the same year he graduated from School.