User talk:Aduralere Oluwagbohunmi

Like Ojo-Ugbole, Like Ayodele Dada: The History of Academic Excellence in Ekiti State. By Oluwagbohunmi Aduralere; gbohunmijoseph@yahoo.com The story of Ayodele Dada, an Ekiti born record breaker came to many as a big surprise. For someone to have scored straight A in all his papers is indeed, an excellent performance. With a cumulative CGPA of 5.0 out of the total available 5.0; Dada is indeed a true son of Ekitiland. But can we objectively discuss the success story of Ayodele Dada as an isolated happenstance from the culture of academic excellence and ‘superior’ records set by the older generation of Ekiti people? The erudite scholars that laid the foundation of what later became ‘Fountain of knowledge; the Ojo Ugbole, Olubummo, Osuntokun, Adeloye and many more who recorded a stint of firsts in their careers. Let me state categorically here that I envy Ayodele Dada’s performance, but it will be right to locate his record of excellence within the context of history of academic excellence in Ekiti state. Of course, as readers will soon agree with me, there is no basis, to compare the unbeatable records set by Ojo-Ugbole with that of Ayodele Dada’s one-off (not derogatory, please) 5.0. Cumulatively speaking, if we look closely at our history, there are better records, by the older generation. So, it is more appropriate to see Ayodele Dada as a shining light, but more importantly, as a true son of Ojo-Ugbole, Olubummo, Osuntokun and other ‘gods’ in the Ekiti academic dynasty. So, just before we begin to reconstruct history of excellence, let us look at the genesis of record breakers in Ekiti. In this piece, I am going to focus on the grandfather of history maker in Ekiti, Professor Daniel Olufunmilayo Ojo, aka Ojo Ugbole. •	“In the history of learning, Professor Ojo was a colossus. His emergence was the beginning of a new chapter in the history of education in Ekiti. He was an outstanding scholar with exemplary qualities.”Adesina Adetola, 2008.

Prior to the emergence of Ojo Ugbole in the academic world, Ekiti people were not the ones that dominated the academic scene in Nigeria. The intellectual prowess and uncommon academic astuteness of Professor Olufunmilayo Ojo, aka Ojo Ugbole announced to the world that Ekiti have arrived. Ekiti in general, and Igbole Ekiti in particular, unarguably was brought to the consciousness of Nigerians and the academic environment between 1930s and 1970s by the singular honour and fame of this precocious and eminent scholar. Although Dr. Omojola Agbebi was reputed for being the first Ph.D holder in Ekiti, he attained this feat as far back as 1867 even before southern and northern protectorates were amalgamated to become what is known as Nigeria today. However, one will be right to assert that the academic revolution that made Ekiti to be known as the Fountain of Knowledge started with the emergence of Professor Ojo Ugbole. Although Ojo is a common Yoruba name, one will be right to state that it was made more prominent in Ekitiland and carried with much fame and distinction by the likes of the legendary scholar of Physics, Professor Olufunmilayo Ojo. In other words, not very many names and personalities are synonymous with exemplary brilliance in their community and environs either in the past or recent times. Professor Ojo-Ugbole was one of such rare gem and an Avant-garde! As a matter of fact, Ojo Ugbole’s name opened door of higher education for a large number of Ekiti students. His fame spread like wildfire in Ekiti. In the early days of formal education in Ekiti, some students had to tell their parents that they wanted to be like Ojo Ugbole before they were allowed to further their studies. Professor Israel Esan Owolabi, a former student of Ojo Ugbole (now a distinguished professor of Physics) was one of them. He gave an insightful lead into how he used Ojo Ugbole’s name to convince his parent before he was allowed to travel to England for his Ph.D.: •	…instead of working as a graduate teacher, I decided to go to England for further studies! What further studies? My father could not understand this situation at all. I had to sit him down for explanation; that there were qualifications higher than the degree I had just acquired. For instance, the teacher who taught us in the university, such as the famous “Dr. Ojo-Ugbole” must, necessarily, possess higher degrees than the one I have just acquired. Coming back from England with a higher qualification, would qualify me to teach in the university also. The mention of the name “Ojo-Ugbole” and the fact he had actually taught me in the university was a clincher! Ojo-Ugbole was the popular name by which Professor Ojo was known all over Ekiti state. He was from the village of Ugbole (now, Igbole Ekiti) in Ido- Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State. During his growing-up years, he was regarded as precocious, a legend in academics, who hardly studied for any examination, yet always coming tops. He never bought books of his own, being very poor, but would visit bookshops and libraries, browse through books and carry all the facts in his brain. Any exceptionally bright pupil in a school was usually dubbed with the alias “Ojo-Ugbole”. He was born in Igbole Ekiti on September 25th, 1917 to a very poor family. His father, Ojo Kekereawo, was one of the early Converts that brought Christianity to Igbole Ekiti. He started primary school at the then comparatively age of 11 in 1928. He started former school in Ido-Ekiti and passed through Infant I, II, III in May to June 1928. In January to March 1929, he passed Standard II and III at St. Luke’s School, Ikere and completed his Standard VI class at St. John’s School, Iloro, Ilesha in 1932. He started as a pupil teacher at the Emmanuel School Ado-Ekiti in 1933, but the following year because of his unorthodox dressing habit, became a ‘special student’ in the Ekiti C.M.S Central School (the pre-historical progenitor of Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti). It was while in this school that he solved some of the difficult Arithmetical problems for the regular students. Given his determination to pursue higher education against all odds, he gained admission to St. Andrew College Oyo in 1936. He was also educated at Yaba Higher College, Lagos 1942-1945. Even though his parent could not afford to buy the required text books for him and had to trek from Igbole Ekiti to St. Andrew College Oyo on several occasions, he made distinction in all his papers. He was at the University of Edinburgh between 1948 and 1952 where he studied physics and graduated with a first class honour. To a lot of students and parents in his generation, Ojo Ugbole was not just a man; he was a god! Seye Adetunmbi puts this observation more figuratively: •	He was a special case and indeed an epitome of academic endeavor in Ekiti. His intellectual excellence was a measure of scholarship among his colleagues and in his constituency generally. Indigence was peculiar to Ekiti citizens of his generation. Nevertheless, he made virtue of his poverty-stricken provenance and very humble upbringing. He did not allow his underprivileged background to deter his academic pursuits. Stories of Ojo Ugbole are legion. There was an examination he was said to have written unprepared for because he abruptly came upon an assembly of students writing an examination. He wrote his answers on the windowsill. When the result was out, he was listed among the successful candidates. He was one of the pioneering teachers of Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti during the time of Archdeacon Dallimore and Canon L.D Mason.” Adelola Adeloye - one of the students of Professor Ojo Ugbole, now, an emeritus professor of neurosurgery, university of Ibadan intoned: •	“D.F. Ojo was next to Babalola in rank among our teachers. He was our music teacher. ‘Ojo Ugbole’ as he was famously known was a legend in scholarship in his generation. We had heard of him before we came to Christ’s School. We accorded him the status of a god, so we watched and worshiped him from a respectable distance. The stories of his extraordinary and superlative scholastic attainments were legendary. Hence, to see Ojo Ugbole in person was for many of us one of the high points of coming to Christ’s School”. Chief Anthony Adebowale Ashaolu, One of his school boys then, and now a retired secondary school principal, described his unique qualities, ground-breaking records and painful journey into fame this way: •	At the college, he was inspired by the result of Aja Nwachukwu, his senior of three years who had distinction in eight papers and his result given publicity by all Newspapers in West Africa. Ojo-Ugbole had distinction in all his eleven papers! He had no money to buy books; He could only afford to buy a single one out of all prescribed books for each subject. Hence he was always in the bookshop to open each of such books to compare the contents with the syllabus. He was always buying the one whose contents were closest to the syllabus. Hence the myth that he studied and committed to memory all pages of books from the bookshop! St Andrew’s college ran a four-year programme; He studied the whole syllabuses within three years and packed all books up to face preparation for Yaba College and General Certificate of Education examinations. The result of the three examinations came in quick succession during that fateful year and he passed at distinction grade in all. (5.0 or its equivalent) This became the talk of the entire community. “Se o a yo mowe, ko o mowe to’Ojo-Ugbole” He later went to the United Kingdom to study and he made a first class honours in geo-physics. He ended being the first African professor of Geo-physics! His intellectual prowess became a measuring scale for his contemporary. His academic astuteness first came into the limelight when he passed the University of London Matriculation Examination in the 1st Division in 1941. The news of his brilliant performance headed the West Africa Pilot Newspaper under the banner headline: OJO UGBOLE PASSES LONDON MATRICULATION EXAMINATION. A feat that had never being achieved by any Nigerian. After his education in the United Kingdom, he returned to the University College Ibadan between 1955 to 1962 where he was very much involved in teaching and curriculum development including the first introduction of the teaching of solid state physics in West Africa. In 1962 he joined the then University of Ife as one of the pioneer members of staff, became the foundation professor of physics in 1964, and until he retired in 1976, initiated the diversification of courses in the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. An indefatigable worker, he was the Head of the Department of Physics in 1962-1975, Dean of the Faculty of Science 1963-1969: Dean of Graduate Studies 1969-72 and Chairman of the College of Sciences 1972-1975. For his pioneering work in Nigerian Institutions of Higher Learning, he was made an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 1965. He was the first Ekiti man in the academia to receive this national honour. Moreover, the fountainhead that Ekiti State has become in the nation’s educational achievement would not be fully established without a special reference to the titanic achievement and trail blazing record of excellence set by this academic prodigy. In ALL the institutions he attended either as a student or as a teacher, Professor Ojo Ugbole set academic records that were too difficult to break and made an ndelible print on the sands of time. He was a paragon of academic brilliance.