Adetoun Ogunsheye Quotes

I went to primary school in the Cameroons – British Cameroon Tutorial – because my father, who was a chief clerk, was transferred there. From there, I went and took entrance examination to Queen’s College, Lagos. I finished from Queen’s College before proceeding to Yaba Higher College for my Teaching Diploma. Yaba Higher College was the only one around in 1945, training doctors, engineers, and education officers, etc.

So for me as a mother…what I sow now in terms of feeding my children properly with nutritious food will remain embedded even at old age.

I started a secondary school. That secondary school is still in existence till today. After that, I got married. I had spent two or three years in the school at that time. Then, my husband got an appointment at the University of Ibadan. I moved there with him. At Ibadan, I joined the university as the Map Librarian.

I love music. I love classical music. That was the thing that first brought us (my husband and me) together. My husband loved classical music and I still do. I have a library in Ibadan for the collection of classical music.

My father was a missionary teacher, first in Benin, and it was at the same time he became a civil servant.

In the last 10 years, they have not.I will advise the government to formulate a national policy to support the elderly in our society, whether they are educated or uneducated. The elderly have contributed to the development of the country one way or the other. Not only that, I can tell you that old age is very expensive. To keep fit, the health of the elderly must be fully supported by the government.

I obtained BSc and MSc degrees in Geography from Cambridge, before attending Simmons College in America, for a master’s degree in Library Science.

I have a baptismal certificate signed by the mission. The date of my birth was in that baptismal certificate.

Because I was a government scholar, I felt like working for the government, but at the civil service, they told me they had no room for candidates that finished with university degree as teachers. So, I went to work for the Anglican Mission. I taught at Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, now St. Margaret’s School, Ilesha, and St. Anne’s School, Ibadan. I lectured at Nigerian College of Science and Technology, and the University of Ibadan, where I also served in the University Library.I became a Reader; Professor; Acting Director, Institute of Librarianship; Head of Department of Library Studies; and Dean of Education. I have carried out and supervised many academic researches. I have more than 50 publications.

This is probably the first time any of us would be gathering to witness the launch of a book by a 95-year old. It is an event we all will remember for a long time.

I couldn’t study medicine because Queen’s College didn’t offer sciences in those days.But there was an interesting issue before going to Yaba Higher College. After finishing from Queen’s College, my father went to my principal and asked him if I could take exam to go to Yaba Higher College. It was an all-male institution then. But the principal told my father they would not take me because I was a female and it was all-male institution. But my father disagreed with him, arguing that there was nothing in the instrument setting up that school that forbade women from attending it. So, I took the entrance examination, passed and was admitted. I was the only female student in the first year.

They say it gives wrinkles but I am lucky no wrinkle…(laughter). Laughter Cheers you more when you are angry before you blow up. Smile more and laughter refreshes not just the soul but the way you look on the outside.

It is the grace of God. Also, if God gives you the grace to live long, you have to work hard too. There should also be a lifestyle adjustment. It is a gift of God. You can’t rule out the efficacy of prayers.

Yes, it is true. There is no doubt about it because I made the first professorship and I sat on the Senate for the appointment of subsequent professors. The first two professors came from Ibadan and I was the first female professor in Nigeria in any discipline at all. I got it in Library Studies.

No, I didn’t remarry. Before he died, I had retired from the university and was in Abeokuta as Chairman of Ogun State Teaching Service Commission and was in charge of all the primary and secondary schools in the state.