(now in OsunState), Western Nigeria.

A foremost educationist, he is a former Chief Inspector of Education, Ministry of Education, Oyo State; an Executive Member, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Western Nigeria and Oyo State, 1962-1977;

Chairman, Professionalisation of Teaching Committee, 1969-1970; Executive Member, Western Nigeria Conference of Principals, 1972-1974; President, Oyo State Conference of Principals (now ANCOPSS), 1975-1977; Chairman, Oyo State Teachers’ Council, 1978-1979; Member, Oyo State Committee on the Future of Boarding Schools and the Oyo State Representative, National Committee on WAEC (The West African Examinations Council), 1977-1978.

The Patron, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria and the Oyo State Chapter, since October 1987, is also the Life Patron, Bible Society of Nigeria, Oyo Area 1, Ibadan, Oyo State. A Deacon of the Bodija Estate Baptist Church, Ibadan, he is a member of the BCOS TV Public Complaints Programme,  “So Daa Bee.’ The President, Oyo State Justices of the Peace (2002 till date), Chief Olatunji Akinola gives a peep into his growing up years:

The successful polygamist
I grew up in Lagos. My father, Pa Daniel Akinola, was a grocer; he sold sugar, biscuit, tobacco and so on at his shop in Lagos Island, No 11, Ajanaku Street. He had three wives and my mother, Madam Susannah, was the second wife; she was a housewife and she sold ogi (cold pap) and egbo (a sort of maize meal, mixed, at times, with beans).

I am the fifth out of my father’s 10 children, while I am my mother’s first born. Father was a successful polygamist because you could never hear anybody complain or fight in the household. I learnt a lot from him. He taught me that in a polygamy, you don’t ask for the main menu; that a man should live on fragments; he taught me that I should not fight with my brothers, or anybody, over food, that I should be tolerant and contented with whatever I was given.

Lessons from parents
I was taught by my parents not to envy people; not to struggle to be in the forefront; to be satisfied with fragments, whatever food the first wife gave you, eat and never complain; be humble, submissive, and not to compete with my siblings for anything. I also learnt from him that in a polygamous setting, you must not blow your trumpet.

The shop and Arithmetic
Instead of putting me in school, father made me to tend the shop while I went to lesson. I was always in the shop from 7a.m., went to lesson by 3p.m. and closed in shop by 10p.m. My daily accounting job in the shop brushed me up in Arithmetic and the Arithmetic book we used in lesson, by Pendbry, was very good. So, I learnt to be good in Arithmetic from the shop.

School you must go

One day, father sent me to buy crates of beer; when I got back, buyers were already waiting and he told me how much I should sell the beers to them. I realised father asked me to sell at 150 per cent.

profit and, because he knew I would ask questions, he explained to me that it was like that because we needed money for me to start school the next day. He gave me money to buy books, uniform,ruler and so on. Very early in the morning of 29 January, 1940, father woke me and personally took me to St. John’s School, Aroloya, Lagos.

Father went straight to the headmaster and told him he wanted me in Standard 1. What surprised me was that there was no argument, no test and, at the end of the session, I did so well I was given double promotion to Standard 3. After Standard 4, I went to Christ Church Cathedral School to read Standard 5, and I did not read Standard 6 because I did examination into secondary schools and I passed.

I got admission into Eko Boys’ High School in January 1944 and I remember that my father took it upon himself to take me to school on the first day. We were given a list of books; he took out the money from where it was tied with thin raffia rope (iko) and I bought everything on the list. The ruler was very important then, even in primary school; you must get an accurate measurement of everything you did. That taught me to be painstaking, meticulous and to always want to do things perfectly.

The absentee and his mum
One day, a friend, Ariyo and I ran away from school to play at Sangross but, unfortunately for us, my mother, for whatever reason, just came to that area and saw us. She did not beat us; she asked me what we were doing there and I could not give any tangible answer. Mother asked me: “What is your name?” I was surprised she asked such a question, but I told her and she asked for my friend’s name, which I told her.

To drive home her point that I should not copy other people or join them to indulge in wrongdoings, she told me that my name and my friend’s name were different; therefore, I should always remember to behave differently in a positive manner. Mother did not say more than that and she did not report to father but, she visited me in school for a week and that experience curbed me from being a truant in school, while  it made me believe that if I did anything wrong, my parents would always see me.

Father’s faithfulness paid off
My parents were not literate enough but they supported me to have good education. When we finished secondary education, my friends, including Paul Atilade, who is now a judge in Lagos, did the London Matriculation (LM) and travelled to London to read Law. That meant they were ahead of me, but by divine intervention, I did the Senior Cambridge and got 2nd Division. By that, I was exempted from the London Matriculation and the next thing was to go to the University College, Ibadan (UCI, now University of Ibadan).

I did the entrance examination and passed, but when I showed father the result, he collected it and kept it, then, he sent me to the shop to continue my job there. However, he later asked me to  go and work at Customs, so that I would know the value of money. I was a clerk at Customs and the first salary I got, £7.19s.11p,  Papa collected it, but he did not take the other salaries from me. Papa made sure we attended church regularly and he was very active at the First Baptist Church, Marina, Lagos.

This was quite rewarding because I could not have continued my education, since father already told me he had no money; however, when the pastor, Reverend J.T. Ayorinde visited us, father told him that I passed into the University College, Ibadan. The pastor just smiled and wrote down my name; I later realised that he got the message father passed across because the mission sponsored me.

Very early on the 23rd of September, 1952, mother came to wake me to prepare for the journey to UCI. When I went to father that morning, he said: “Tunji, there is no money, but I already told the pastor about you.” He opened his drawer and gave me an envelope which had, ‘On His Majesty’s Service’ on it.

When I opened it, the salary father collected from me was inside and that was what I took to school. Mother took me to the station where I boarded the train to Ilugun and the UCI came there to take us to school in their bus. At the school, I met Doctor Adeoye Adeniyi, who was on the scholarship of the Baptist mission; he was the one that told me, after some time, that my name was on the list of those given scholarship by the mission. My father was a faithful member of the church and he was bailed out in time of need.

Pranks
Our house was at No 11, Doherty Street, Opposite Dada Aladja Street, Ireko, Lagos and we played many pranks. At the shop, when I sold anything, I would add some money; I remitted father’s money, the exact amount he said I should sell; but, the extra money, I used to buy shirts, rent bicycle to ride on Sundays and other things.

One particular Sunday, I wore one of those shirts and went out to ride bicycle. Unfortunately, we hit someone and, just like it used to happen whenever I did something wrong, one of my parents, this time, my father, passed by. Papa just said, “Tunji, pele o, se ko si nkan o? (Tunji, how are you? Hope there is no problem?)” And he went away.

When I got home, Papa seized the shirt and that was when I realised what I was doing was stealing and I stopped putting extra money on the goods, stopped buying things myself and stopped riding bicycle.

Watch your sound and movement
We also used to sneak out to fight wrestling in the night, or we played ‘Bojuboju’ (hide and seek). During the hide and seek, I was always caught and one day, in frustration, I cried to father. He taught me that to escape being caught, I should watch how I moved and answered during the play; he said after answering ‘mu’ (take him) the first time, I should move away from my position and should not answer the principal actor again when he asked, “se ki n mu?” (do I take him?). He explained to me that the principal actor listened to our voices and movements to know where to catch somebody.

Even the Bible says we should always watch and pray; so, in life, we should always be mindful of our actions and utterances in order not to affect others, and indeed, ourselves, negatively.

Philosophy
God first. God is great; God is good; God is righteous. We must keep our communion, closeness and commitment to God. We should know that with God, all things are possible; He is the creator of everything; He should always be honoured and glorified; everything begins and ends on God’s table so, we should always put God first in our lives.

Lively campus
Life at UCI was very good and lively. I was admitted with Wole Soyinka and others and some of us were quiet while they were the life of the college; you know, they were involved in drama and so on.

Favourite Bible story
The story of David and Goliath. It shows that it is God that appoints man to a position. God has a way of leading people to their destinies and if God is with you, nobody can be against you. Because of God’s plan for David, he was brought from the sheep’s pen to the palace.