PROFESSOR ADEBAYO AJAYI OLUMIDE

Ancestry
Professor Adebayo Ajayi Olumide, was born in Kano on the 30th of August 1937 to Mr and Mrs Gabriel Michael Oloyede Olumide, both of blessed memory.  His father hailed from Abeokuta and his paternal grandfather, Revd. J.J. Olumide was the Secretary of the Egba Anglican Diocese. His great grandfather, Josaiah Olumide, the second Balogun of Egba Christians, served as Minister for Sanitation and Public Health of the Egba United Nation in 1898, in the Council of State headed by His Majesty Oba Osokalu , the Alake of Egba Kingdom.  It is not surprising ergo, that the extended Olumide family, have a long standing history of Christian heritage. His beloved mother, Bineke Bradi, an Itshekri princess from Warri, was the only child of Princess Eyimetse from the Royal family of Ode Itshekri, Warri.

Early Life and Education
Professor Olumide had his primary education in three different Nigerian cities; He attended Holy Trinity School, Kano (1943 – 1946), St. Cyprians School, Port-Harcourt (1947 – 1949), and CMS Central School, Onitsha (1949 --1951).  Attending three primary schools was necessitated by the frequent transfers of his father, who was a Manager in the employment of G.B. Ollivant Limited, a British company. In spite of the unsettling effect of changing primary schools, there were significant advantages. He became fluent in both Hausa and Ibo languages. Also, he had the opportunity to be exposed to different cultures, which resulted in him being a totally “detribalized” Nigerian. He spoke often of how he vividly remembered the pyramids of groundnut bags in Kano, the creeks and mangrove forests around Port-Harcourt, and the wide expanse of the River Niger in Onitsha.

The Secondary School Years
In January 1953, Professor Olumide gained admission into the famous Igbobi College, Yaba, when Revd. R.B. Parker was the principal. He spent five memorable years in the college where he received high quality education, and was exposed to discipline, hard work and sports. In addition to all these, he had good moral upbringing at Igbobi College. In 1956, he served as chapel monitor with a classmate, Professor Abiodun Johnson. In 1957, which was his last year at Igbobi, he set a record which to common knowledge, has not been surpassed. In that year, he was the senior prefect, football captain, cricket captain and ‘Victor Ludorum’ in athletics. In the same year, he won the Elder Dempster Travel Scholarship, after competing with other senior prefects in the Western Region in an interview at the Ministry of Education, Ibadan.

This travel scholarship earned him a trip to Britain on the ocean liner M.V. Apapa.  He was one of six students (four from Nigeria, and two from Ghana). They were treated like student ambassadors in Britain.  To crown it all, in spite of all the distractions, he passed the Cambridge School Certificate Examination in Grade I.

He was admitted to Kings College, Lagos in 1958, after a vigorous and competitive entrance examination to undergo a two year Higher School Certificate course (HSC).  He also excelled in sports in King’s College, representing the school in athletics, football and cricket.  He passed the HSC exam with flying colours.

Undergraduate Education
On the strength of his HSC results, Professor Olumide was admitted to the University College Ibadan (UCI) by direct entry to read Medicine in 1960. His decision to read medicine was largely influenced by his late cousin, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, who was his role model. After his first year in UCI, he won a federal government scholarship which saw him through his medical training.  UCI was the only University in Nigeria at that time, when it was an external college of the University of London. Admissions were usually announced in the Daily Times. He was overjoyed and relieved to find his name as one of those admitted. His heart did skip a beat the next day, though, when the Daily Times carried the news that eleven of the candidates admitted to read Medicine, and whose names had appeared in the Daily Times, were in fact admitted in error! Fortunately, he was not one of them.

As an undergraduate in UCI, he participated in many extracurricular activities. He represented the university in athletics, football and cricket. In 1963, he was invited by the Nigerian Cricket Association to play international cricket for Nigeria. He was the cricket captain and sportsman of the year in 1964. He continued to play cricket for Nigeria until 1969, when the demands of a busy surgical career prevented him from pursuing cricket further. He also took part in the performing arts, playing the part of a Spanish dancer in Bizet’s opera, “Carmen”. These extracurricular activities did not distract him from his academic endeavours. He won the obstetrics and gynaecology departmental prize in 1964.

Early Working Life
After obtaining the M.B.B.S.(Lond.) degree in 1965, Professor Olumide did his housemanship at the University College Hospital (UCH) , Ibadan. He continued to work as a Senior House Officer and then as Registrar in the Department of Surgery. His clinical teachers included Professors Davey, Lawson, Alexander, Ngu and Odeku. It was while he was working in Professor Odeku’s neurosurgery unit, that he got captivated by Neurosurgery. It is therefore no surprise that Neurosurgery turned out to be his chosen area of expertise.

As a Registrar in UCH, he was “voluntarily” drafted into the Nigeria Army in 1968, during the civil war, as a Field Major. He served with the 38 Brigade under the 3rd Marine Commando Division.  His brigade commander was Col. S.E. Tuoyo, who later became the military governor of Ondo state after the war.  His divisional commander was General Benjamin Adekunle, also known as the “Black Scorpion”. He was the medical director of St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua, Akwa Ibom for four months during the civil war. He was able to apply his surgical experience to operate on several injured soldiers.

At this stage of his biography, mention must be made of a major event in his life.  He got married on July 22nd, 1967 to his beautiful and brilliant sweetheart of several years – Miss Aderonke Manuwa. She is the daughter of the late renowned surgeon, physician and medical administrator, the legendary Sir Samuel Manuwa. Their first child was born shortly afterwards. Professor Olumide was just getting used to the responsibilities of fatherhood, when he had to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland to begin his formal neurosurgical training. He had been exposed to neurosurgical practice under Professor Latunde Odeku in Ibadan before he left for the U.K.

Sojourn in Scotland
Professor Olumide arrived in Edinburgh in April, 1969 to take up appointment as Senior House Officer in the Neurosurgery department of the Western General Hospital and the Royal Infirmary. His wife and son joined him in Edinburgh in June, 1969. He succeeded in passing the Fellowship examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in December 1970.  He continued with his neurosurgical training under Professor John Gillingham, the famous British neurosurgeon who later became president of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. He travelled to London in June 1972 to attend an interview for the position of Senior Registrar (Neurosurgery) in UCH, Ibadan.  As expected, he got the job and went back to Nigeria in September 1972, to take up appointment at the UCH in the department of Surgery.  In addition to his clinical duties, he also worked as a part-time demonstrator in the department of Anatomy, University of Ibadan.

His Niche in Academia
By 1974, there were already two consultant neurosurgeons in the department of Surgery. With no vacancy for a third consultant, it was becoming obvious that if Professor Olumide wanted to be a consultant, he would have to look elsewhere. Professor Odeku, who was his boss then, suggested that he should go and work in Kenya, until there was a vacancy in Ibadan. Fortunately, he had an unsolicited offer from the provost in the Lagos Universty Teaching Hospital, for the position of consultant. He informed Prof Solanke, who was his head of department, about the strong possibility of my re-locating to Lagos. Prof Solanke promptly went to see the Vice-Chancellor and within five days, he received a letter appointing him as Temporary Lecturer and  Consultant in February,1974.  He decided after all to stay in Ibadan.

During his academic career in Ibadan, he conducted research in the areas of head injury, brain abscess, and congenital malformations of the central nervous system. These topics were reflected in his widely acknowledged publications. He was the author of a chapter in a collaborative book entitled “Care of the Injured.”

He spent all of 1981 as a visiting scientist at the prestigious National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA. This appointment came with a salary from the United States Federal Government and facilities to conduct research in tumour biology, tissue culture and microsurgery.

In 1983, he was promoted to the position of Professor of Neurosurgery in the University of Ibadan. In 1987, he gave a well acclaimed Inaugural Lecture entitled “Brain Surgery – Myth or Reality” on behalf of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences. In the course of his career, he was privileged to hold various important offices.  Some of these included:

Member of Council, West African College of Surgeons (1980 – 1982) Honorary Treasurer, West African College of Surgeons (1982 – 1986) Member of Governing Council, university of Ibadan (1986 – 1988) African Delegate to the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies.

 He also served as the president of the Pan African Association of Neurological Sciences.

As a University teacher, researcher and clinician, he contributed immensely to the training of medical undergraduates and post-graduate doctors over the years. He was invited to give neurosurgery lectures to medical students in the University of Benin, Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Shagamu and Ahmadu Bello University , Zaria.  He also served as External Examiner in Benin, Sokoto, Ife, Zaria and Nsukka medical schools.  He proctored in postgraduate examinations of the West African College of Surgeons, and the  Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.

He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Medical College of Surgeons (Nigeria), Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons, Fellow of the International College of Surgeons, Associate member of the British Neurological Surgeons and member of the Pan African Association of Neurological Sciences, to mention a few.

Community Service
In the community, Professor Olumide was very active as a member of the Parents Teachers Association of All Saints Church School, Ibadan in the 80s. He later served as the Chairman of the Board of Management of the All Saints Church School for several years (1983-1988). He was a member of the Abeokuta Club, which is dedicated to the upliftment of the Egbas.

He was an active member of the Igbobi College Old Boys Association (ICOBA) , Ibadan Branch, where he became the 2nd Vice President for a short period before he travelled  out of the country.  He also represented the Ibadan branch in the National Committee of ICOBA for a few years.  He felt honoured  and gratified  when the National Executive of ICOBA honoured him with a Merit Award for services to the college and professional distinction in 2007. As a member of the Rotary Club of Bodija, he also made a modest contribution to community service.

Service in the Arabian Gulf
In 1988, Professor Olumide decided to take up an appointment in Saudi Arabia as a Consultant Neurosurgeon. Hitherto, many of his colleagues at the University College Hospital had already gone to Saudi Arabia, but he persisted, not wanting to leave his family behind, as well as out of a sense of patriotism. However, what finally prompted his decision to go to Saudi Arabia, was a letter he received from the Federal Mortgage Bank. In the letter, he was asked to cooperate with an auctioneer who was coming to assess his family home, a home he and his wife had designed and built, for sale, because he had become a delinquent borrower, unable to continue loan payments, due to having not being paid his salary by UCH.

He arrived in Riyadh on the 14th of December, 1988, and that was the beginning of an eighteen year sojourn in Saudi Arabia.  After the initial culture shock, he settled down to his job as Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Riyadh Medical Complex – the flagship of the hospitals under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. It was a tertiary hospital with sophisticated and modern medical facilities. The remuneration was attractive and the job satisfaction was immense.  While in Saudi Arabia, he voluntarily retired from the service of the University of Ibadan in 1990.  He enjoyed his job in Riyadh, in spite of the risks of constant scud missiles during the 1991 Gulf War and the terrorist bombings in recent years. The Saudis were friendly and they appreciated the quality of his work. On more than one occasion, he was touched by public advertisements of thanks and appreciation by patients on the pages of local newspapers.

He was a member of the Riyadh Neuroscience Club and was an examiner to the Saudi Board of Neurosurgery. In 2000, he was appointed Head of the Department of Neurosurgery, a position he held until he retired in 2006, and returned home to Nigeria.

His Treasures
Professor Bayo Olumide could not have achieved these successes without the loving, uncompromising and loyal support of his wife of 45 years, Dr. (Mrs)Aderonke Elsie Olumide.  He first met his wife, the love of his life, at a friend’s birthday party where her mother and his aunt, who was her mother’s friend, were both present.  They introduced them to each other and encouraged them to dance! She was, and still is a paragon of beauty. They courted for several years until they got married in 1967.  They have been blessed with four wonderful children – Adebayo Jnr & Yetunde (Nee Williams), Oluwafadekemi, Olufunmilade, and five lovely grandchildren: Olawamide, Olaoluwasubomi, Oladimeji, Oluwasesi, and Tiwalade, from whom they have derived immense joy and pride. Professor Olumide always seized the opportunity to thank his wife for always putting the interest of her husband, children and home first above all else.  She is a pillar in the family. She became his sister, and best friend, and remained his priceless gem of inestimable value, to the very end......  

 

To God be the Glory