Olabisi Onabanjo

Olabisi Onabanjo
Governor of Ogun State
In office Oct 1979 – Dec 1983
Preceded by	Harris Eghagha
Succeeded by	Oladipo Diya
Personal details
Born	1927
Died	April 14, 1990

Victor Olabisi Onabanjo (1927–1990) was governor of Ogun State in Nigeria from October 1979 – December 1983, during the Nigerian Second Republic. He was of Ijebu extraction.^[1]

Background

Victor Olabisi Onabanjo was born in 1927 in Lagos. He was educated in Lagos and at the Regent Street Polytechnic in the United Kingdom, where he studied journalism between 1950 and 1951. He worked as a journalist for several years before becoming a full time politician. His column Aiyekooto (parrot - known for telling the plain truth) appeared in the Daily Service and Daily Express newspapers between 1954 and 1962.^[2]

Political career

Olabisi Onabanjo was elected chairman of the Ijebu Ode Local Government Area in 1977 under the tutelage of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was elected governor of Ogun State in October 1979 on the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform.^[2] He was known as an unpretentious and plain-speaking man, and his administration of Ogun State was considered a model at the time and later.^[3]

On May 13, 1982 he commissioned Ogun Television.^[4] The Ogun State University, founded on 7 July 1982 was renamed Olabisi Onabanjo University on May 29, 2001 in his memory.^{[citation needed]} He established the Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, but General Oladipo Diya who became military governor in 1983 closed the school down, only to be re-opened after the return to democracy in 1999.^[5]

Later career

After the military take-over in December when General Muhammadu Buhari took power, he was thrown in jail for several years.^[6] After release, he returned to journalism, publishing his Aiyekooto column in the Nigerian Tribune from 1987 to 1989. Onabanjo died on April 14, 1990. Selected articles from his column were published in a book in 1991.^[2]

Bibliography

• Victor Olabisi Onabanjo (Edited by Felix A. Adenaike) (1991). Aiyekooto. Syndicated Communications Ltd, Ibadan. ISBN 9783111507. 

References

1. ^ "Ogun 2011: Those Who Want OGD’s Job". Saturday Tribune. 21 November 2009. http://www.tribune.com.ng/21112009/analysis.html. Retrieved 2009-12-17. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Aiyekooto". AfBIS. http://www.afbis.com/store/system/index.html. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
3. ^ Kolade Larewaju (13 February 2008). "Daniel, Others Laud Late Onabanjo's Virtues". Vanguard. http://allafrica.com/stories/200802130150.html. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
4. ^ Tayo Agunbiade. "Gateway Television: Name- Change And Politics Of Envy". Gamji. http://www.gamji.com/article4000/NEWS4651.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
5. ^ LUKMAN OLABIYI (June 15, 2009). "When fresh breeze blew on Adesanya Poly". Daily Sun. http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/featurettes/2009/june/15/Featurettes-06-15-2009-001.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
6. ^ Olakunle Abimbola (15 September 2009). "Exit Gani (1938-2009)". The Nation. http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/18354/1/Exit-Gani-1938-2009/Page1.html. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 

Persondata
Name	Onabanjo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1927
Place of birth
Date of death	1990-04-14
Place of death