Opinion - Olasore: One of Offa Grams' giants

Date: 2012-08-03

The passage, on June 1, 2012, of a foremost banker and traditional ruler of Iloko Ijesa, Osun State, Oba Oladele Olasore, is no doubt a huge blow to Nigeria, even if this great loss was clouded by the Dana tragedy that occurred two days after. To us old students of Offa Grammar School, Offa, Kwara State, it is a bigger blow.

Offa Grammar School may not be in the class of the Kings Colleges, Barewa College, Queens Colleges and Methodist Boys High Schools of this world, but clearly the school has made quality contribution to the roll call of men and women that shaped and are still shaping Nigeria.

From the military are General Alani Akinrinade, the man that played a central role in bringing order to Nigeria and averting the greater disaster that would have followed B.S Dimka’s coup of 1976, to General David Jemibewon, Group Captain S.A Latinwo, Air Commodore Bayo Lawal and Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye - the last two, like Akinrinade, also former service chiefs.  From the judiciary, Offa Grammar School has given Nigeria the embattled Justice Isa Ayo Salami, the late Justice M.B Belgore, the current Emir of Ilorin, Justice Ibrahim Gambari, all former Appeal Court  Judges.

From the academia, the first African professor of Geology, Professor M.O Jamiu Oyawoye tops OGS’ list of distinguished alumni, a list that has no fewer than five vice chancellors, including Professors A.B.O.O Oyediran and S.A Adeyemi, former VCs of the University of Ibadan and Federal University of Technology, Minna, respectively.  The list is endless.
But if OGS old students were picked at random and asked to pick the greatest product of the school, I am willing to guess that Oba Oladele Olasore will feature top of the chart. That is how much we respect this banker, who was not only very active in old students’ activities but also a former president of the national body.

When the Pa James Osanyin-led Offa Grammar School admitted the 16-year-old boy into the school in 1951, little did it know a future shiny star had just been enrolled into the community secondary school.

Like a prince that he was, Olasore was not the most gentle pupil in the school, as Chief Emmanuel Adesoye of the Okin Biscuit and Adesoye College fame, and a one-year junior to Olasore in OGS, narrated how the prince used to send them to buy wine outside the school in the mid-1950s.

Interestingly, today, both men are founders of two of the most successful private secondary schools in Nigeria, Adesoye College, Offa and Olasore International School, Iloko Ijesa.

Olasore completed his secondary education in 1956. He proceeded to Ghana and thereafter England for further schooling. He returned to Nigeria to pick up a job as an Accountant in British Petroleum Nigeria Limited before venturing into banking as a director in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Suraj Oyewale, 
Edinburgh Business School, Former President, 
Offa Grammar School Old Students Association (2000 set)

Source

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Bolaji Abdullahi     International Aviation College     SSUCOEN     Abdulrasaq Alaro     Abdulkadir Remi Hawawu     ER-KANG     Ibrahim Oniye     Rotimi Oyedepo     Mohammed Halidu     Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq     Revenue Court     Suleiman Idris     Ajikobi     Yakubu Mohammed Abdullahi     Bio Ibrahim     Saliu Alamoyo     Islamiya Abdulraheem     Ishola Balogun Fulani     Unicontinental Construction Company     Bisi Kristien     Senate Presidency     Balogun Fulani     Mohammed Ghali Alaaya     Suleiman Ajadi     Okasanmi Ajayi     Toyin Abdullahi     Clement Yomi Adeboye     Ilorin General Hospital     Abubakar Suleiman     Adegoke Bamidele     Mujtabah Bature     Olokoba     UITH     Ibrahim Abdullahi     Gbajabiamila     Plat Technologies     Bamikole Omishore     Binta Abubakar-Mora     Galadiman Ngeri     Ilorin Talaka Parapo (ITP)     Isiaka Yusuf     2017 Budget     Toyin Olayinka Tejidini     Mashood Abdulrafiu Agboola     Aiyedun     TIIDELab     Mary Arinde     College Of Health     Muslim Cementary     Elelu     Toyin Falola     Frootify     International Public Sector Accounting Standards     HAMFAT Clinic And Maternity     Kemi Adeosun     Kwara Pdp     Adesoye College     Alliance For Democracy     Gabriel Fashanu     Moses Adekanye     Adedayo Yusuf Abdulkareem     20 Billion Bond     Aisha Buhari     Olupako     Apaokagi     Ibrahim Issa Jetti     Dele Momodu     Bashiru Makama     Kwara State Television (KWTV)     Ajakaye     Valsolar Consultoria     Kwarareports     April 11     Agboola Abdulraheem     Yahaya Jibril Usman     Haashim Initiative For Community Advancement     JAMB    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Maryam Ado Bayero     KWTV     Sobi Hill     Akanji     3MTT     Vasolar-Kwara Company Ltd     John Obuh     Donatus Ejidike     Post Utme     Abdulkadir Akanbi-Oke     Umar Yakubu Jaja     Bashiru Makama     Abdulquowiyu Olododo     Saliu Ajia     Dan Iya     SSA Youth Engagement     Abdulmumini Sanni Jawondo     Charles Ibitoye     GRA     Mufutau Olatinwo     Oke-Kura     Yahaya Muhammad     Ilorin.Info     Kawu     Abdulrauf Yusuf     Abdulsalam A. Yusuf     Tsaragi/Share     Abdulfatai Salman Baakini     Temitope Ogunbanke     HICA     Lawal Arinola Kudirat     Sambo Murtala     Khadijat Ayoola Yusuf     Samuel Adedoyin     Mohammed Abdulahi     Abdullahi Atanda     General Hospital, Ilorin     Christian Association Of Nigeria     Imam Gambari     Isiaka AbdulRazaq     IHS     Salaudeen Oyewale     Ahmad Belgore     Emmanuel Olatunji Adesoye     Kolo     Abdulquawiy Olododo     Leke Ogungbe     NURTW     Quarry Royal Valley     Balogun Fulani     Sarafadeen Kayode Akorede     Gobirawa     Imodoye Writer’s Enclave     Freshvine Nigeria Limited     Bello Abubakar     Dauda Adesola     Adegoke Bamidele     Federal Polytechnic Offa     Laduba     Valsolar Consortium     KSIRS     Abdulfatah Ahmed     Bolakale Ayo     Ballah     Alikinla     Joseph Alex Offorjama     Binta Abubakar Mora     Ibikunle Ogunleye     Centre For Digital Economy     Nnazua     Olanrewju Okanlawon Musa     Mahmud Durosinlohun Atiku     TIIDELab     Shehu Alimi Foundation     National Information Technology Development Agency     Isiaka Oniwa     Suleiman Alege Kuranga