Adenike Osofisan Quotes

I still multitask. I am involved in many activities that have to do with my home and being a wife, mother and grandmother. I work as a professor (teaching and researching), and engage in social engagements and professional and church activities. I do not have a dull moment.

We should go back to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s plan. With respect to Chief Awolowo, his definition of education was that ‘it is the right of every child to be educated’ and he gave children quality and free education. The education they gave me at Ife was solid, so I was able to fit into Geogia Tech. Awolowo gave scholarships across the board to students who did very well. Some scholarships for science students included book allowance. Awolowo had a blueprint for free education before it was introduced. He was well prepared for free education compared with nowadays that people (politicians) promise free education without being fully prepared for it.

I have no idea. Officially I am retiring from the University of Ibadan next March. I am on accumulated leave leading to retirement. But I am not on leave in the real sense.

Our stories are very interesting. He was a science pupil who became an arts pupil because of Principal D. J. Bullock. I was an arts pupil and I became a science pupil by providence. We are both familiar with the two terrains.

For me, mathematics is the simplest and most interesting subject that does not require cramming but understanding from basic principles. I guess the love for mathematics is natural for me. General Science was first introduced to my set at Fiwasaiye in 1966. I loved the physics portion of the general science so much and decided to convert to science from arts.

I would have loved to do certain things differently but no regrets. At the beginning I fought all battles that came my way, but with hindsight, I’ve realised that not all battles are worth fighting because you will just dissipate energy on needless battles. Don’t ask me for an example of such battles; they are personal and may cause embarrassment to some people.

Our guardian and counsellor in Aiyetoro, Mr Olumide Kuti, encouraged me to read computer science. He asked me to go to the library to read about it because I had no idea what the discipline was about then. Aiyetoro, being an American school then, had a very good library. So I read a book on computer science and fell in love with it instantly.

It was very difficult but not impossible. I learnt time management and multitasking from home and from my secondary school. These came in handy.

The first two are into social sciences while the last two read computer science. However, they all have creative abilities.

As for Kudirat too, the heroine of democracy, I felt so highly elated that I am being honoured along with those two heroines. I feel proud about it.

I had to learn patience and to think outside the box. I was given a lot of nicknames like ‘Iron Lady’, ‘Hard-wired electronics’, etc.

There is no invention that doesn’t bring good and bad. However, it depends on which aspect you want to adopt.

I am his first critic. He is my editor. I have read and watched all his plays. I even attend his rehearsals.

A lot of people get it wrong. The facilities available today are more than what was available in our days. During our time, General Science was only introduced in our final year. However, today, even from primary school, children are exposed to computing, science and the like.

To train a student in the university is a lot of money. We play too much politics with education, and as long as you play politics with education, things will not go well. That is the truth.