(Re)Introducing Professor Oladimeji Aborisade
Akin Ogundiran
The Journey So Far
This is Professor Oladimeji Aborisade at 80. A native of Ibadan – Africa’s second largest city, Professor Aborisade rose by dint of hard work, Grace of God, and the full support of his parents - Aborisade Aremu of Morodun-Adetola family, Ojagbo, Ibadan and Asande Bolaji of Oguntope-Abina family, Labiran, Ibadan. Both of them died in 1954 and 1969 respectively. He enjoyed rural life in Ataari village, Egbeda Local Government, Ibadan; and in Adewumi-Araromi, Ona Ara Local Government, Ibadan where his father was a cocoa farmer and his mother a poultry trader.
In 1954, Professor Oladimeji Aborisade began his work experience as a Post and Telegraph Linesman responsible for the construction of the First Control Telephone lines from Ibadan to Jebba, under Engineer J.B. Marquis. At the completion of the project, he was deployed to Osogbo, the regional headquarter of Nigeria’s Post and Telegraph Department, for another assignment. This took him to Ilesa and Ile-Ife for the conversion of overhead telephone lines into cable, to pave way for the electrification of these two towns. This assignment was completed in December 1955.
In 1956, he joined the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Mission as an elementary school teacher at Alugbo, Ibadan for a pay of 52 pounds per annum. In 1957, he was admitted into the Teacher Training College at Otun-Ekiti. Upon graduation as a qualified teacher in early 1959, he started teaching at the SDA School, Ikun-Ekiti on a salary of 120 pounds per annum. The burning desire to further his education made him leave for Bekwai, Ghana in June 1959 to enroll in a general education program. He stayed in Ghana till 1961. In September 1962, he left for North America for his college education.
In the next fifteen years, Professor Oladimeji Aborisade earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, San Bernardino; Master of Public Health (Health Services Administration) from Loma Linda, California; Master of Administration in Business, from the University of Carlifornia, Riverside; and Ph.D. in Government from Claremont Graduate University, California (1977). He also did post-doctoral training in Public Policy at Indiana University, Bloomington; and in Organizational Theory/Control at Jouy En Josas in France.
On September 7, 1977, Professor Aborisade returned to Nigeria after fifteen years away from home, to join the Department of Public Administration, University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University - OAU) as Lecturer Grade Two. He rose progressively through the academic ranks to become Professor of Local Government Studies in 1991. He is (co)editor of nine books, author/co-author of four books and over thirty articles and book chapters. Among his publications are Traditional Rulers in Nigeria; On Being in Charge at the Grassroots Level; Local Government Accounting Methods; Public Administration in Nigeria; State and Local Government in Nigeria; and with Robert Mundt, Politics in Nigeria and The Discretionary Powers of Local Government. He received many grants for his research on Local Government Studies, Health Care, and Democratization in Nigeria. Among many academic honors and awards, he was a fellow of the United States Information Service (USIS), grantee of the Ford Foundation; and a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the North Carolina State University at Raleigh, 1996-1997.
For most of his career, Professor Oladimeji Aborisade was a scholar-teacher-administrator. At Obafemi Awolowo University, he was the Chair of the Department of Public Administration, 1979-1984; Founding Chair, Department of Local Government Studies, 1984-1988; and Dean, Faculty of Administration, 1989-1996. He also served as the Acting Provost of the College of Administration, Law and Social Sciences. In addition, Professor Aborisade served on various national commissions in Nigeria, including: National University Commission on Academic Minimum Standard; Federal Government Commission on the Creation of Additional Local Governments; Member of the Governing Board of the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria; and on the Public Administration Graduate Curriculum committee for the International Institute of Administration.
In 1993, he capped his academic journey with the Inaugural Address at Obafemi Awolowo University titled “All Politics is Local”. He retired from the university in 1999 and relocated to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as Visiting Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Africana Studies. Commenting on Professor Aborisade’s impact on the Africana Studies curriculum over the past sixteen years, department chair, Dr. Akin Ogundiran, noted that: "In view of the range of courses Dr Aborisade has taught (more than fourteen different courses!) since joining UNC Charlotte, from politics and international affairs, to culture, history, sociology of family, literature, language, methods and theory, etc., no one has had as much impact on the delivery of Africana Studies curriculum in this university as Dr. Aborisade... His encyclopedic knowledge of Africa is eminent as he combines experience with erudition."
In recognition of his pioneering academic accomplishments, institution building, outstanding service to the advancement of grassroots development, and his many roles as a community and national leader, the Olubadan (King) of Ibadan-land honored him with the chieftaincy title of “Balogun Onigege Wura (Commander of The Golden Pen) of Ibadan-land” in 1996.
Professor Oladimeji Aborisade is married to Mama Felicia from Oree, Kwara State. They have five children and four grandchildren. Children: Bolaji, Omotolani, Olatundun, Olasoji, and Olamide. Grandchildren: Olabamike and Olasubomi (Aborisade); and OluwaSemilore and OluwaSemilola (Daves).
The celebration of Professor Aborisade at 80 will begin in Ibadan on August 28 at Jogor Hall, and will include a book launching titled Local Government in Nigeria: Essays for Professor Oladimeji Aborisade (ed. by Isiaka Aransi).
The celebration will continue at UNC Charlotte on October 22 with a symposium titled “All Politics is Local”: Perspectives on Community Engagement and Citizen Empowerment in Africa and the African Diaspora - A Symposium in Honor of Professor Oladimeji Aborisade at 80.