He was born 50 years ago in Surulere, Lagos.
By the time he was in primary 4, his parents took him and his siblings back to their country home, Ijebu-Ife, Ogun State.
That was where they all grew up and had their early education.
For Adeola Adenubi currently Master Principal Solution Engineer at Oracle, completing his primary education and also having his secondary school in his country home was the tonic that saw him attending one of the worlds best universities, Cambridge University in the UK for a post graduate programme in computer science.
But the journey to Cambridge came with tears and a dint of hard work.
Education
Adenubi had always wanted to rewrite the story of the family. That was what propelled him to excellence. He was head boy at the Muslim Primary school, Ijebu Ife, was library prefect at Ijebu-Ife Community Grammar School where he had his secondary education and had maintained a leading position in the school.
By the time he wrote WAEC, he had the best result in the whole of Ijebu East Local Government in Ogun State.
From there he got admission to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. where he studied Computer Science and graduated as the best student at the OND level.
He then got admission to Ogun State University now Olabisi Onabanjo University to study Computer Science through direct entry.
While at OOU he excelled. He broke the record in a particular course called Real Analysis. Since the creation of the department in 1982 no student had scored A in the course as at the time Adenubi was there.
But he broke the jinx. He scored over 80 in the course making him a centre of attraction.
At graduation Adenubi was the best graduating student in the Faculty of Science of the university in the 1999 set. He graduated with a First Class honours degree
Tragedy and triumph
With that outstanding performance he applied for the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Scholarship. The scholarship at that time was awarded to two students per state throughout the federation .
But the overall best student in the qualifying exams for the scholarship was to school in Cambridge.
Adenubi turned out to the best among all those who wrote the exams for the scholarship throughout Nigeria in 2002 and was billed for the University of Cambridge for his post graduate studies in computer science.
That was the turning point for him. But before he travelled out of Nigeria for the PG programme the unthinkable happened .
He had just one week to get his papers together, the visa and all other preparations.
He had gone to Abuja and was coming back to meet family members who had gathered to celebrate with him at his country home before traveling out of the country.
But he got the saddest news ever
He recalled, ‘ On my way from Abuja I wanted to stop by at Sagamu to meet my elder brother who has been making efforts concerning my academics.
He was the one who first broke the news of the scholarship to me because he saw it in the newspaper.
He was also responsible for the running around concerning my academics.
‘Rather than stopping by to see him before going to Ijebu-Ife to meet family members I changed my mind. I felt people would be waiting for me at home and that he would join us in the celebration.
‘By the time I got home, my brother took off from Sagamu where he was working and was driving home to come and rejoice with me before I finally travel out. Unfortunately a truck ran into him while he was driving along the Sagamu-Ore road. He died in that collision.
It was the most devastating news ever. Gloom enveloped the whole town. The people who had gathered to celebrate with Adenubi were flustered..
Tears and anguish rent the air. The pain was too much to bear.
He had to still travel anyway. But the loss of his elder brother cast a shadow on his ambition and was to dampen his enthusiasm.
‘It was my brother’s death that made me return to Nigeria immediately I finished my one-year programme in Cambridge.. Life made no more meaning to me. It was God that has sustained me ever since.
“My elder brother laboured and did a lot for us his younger ones. He was the first born of the family. His death was a big blow.
‘ His sudden exit affected my parents so much. My father died a few years later. But my mother is still alive..’ Adenubi said.
Life in Cambridge
But life in Cambridge was to come with its own peculiarities. By the time he got to Cambridge in the United Kingdom Adenubi was one out of the two blacks in the whole of his department at both undergraduate and post graduate levels. And the only black man at his level. The other black man was doing his PhD in Computer Science
That made him a sort of recluse. But even at that he made his mark. He was elected to represent the students of his class at the staff-student consultative forum . ‘Studying in Cambridge came with its own challenges. What Cambridge did to me was to give me confidence to write any kind of exams. Just bring the exams and I will be ready to write it.’ He said.
During exams we wrote as many as six papers in a day over four days for the 24 courses we had.
‘ Most of the work were done by students. The rigour and research work was phenomenal.’ he said
While noting that Cambridge is indeed a great university, he said, ‘I have been to several universities to study. I have been to OOU, University of Lagos where I did my MBA and then to Caleb University and graduated the best at the MSc programme with a perfect CPGA 5/5.
‘I had to do another Masters in Computer Studies in Caleb because at Cambridge the programme was post-graudate studies in Computer science . It was not called Masters in Computer Science. But as the representative of students at the consultative forum I made a case that it be changed to Masters in Computer Science.
Still on his experience he said, ‘I can say the Cambridge has its own peculiarity. I think what is special about Cambridge is that they know how to drill students and get the best out of them. We did most of the academic work and there was no easy access to lecturers unlike universities back home. In Cambridge they had director of studies who relate with students not your lecturer. ‘
Life in the UK was however a bit of roller coaster for Adenubi. He recalled that he had to learn how to ride bicycles while in the UK because it provided a cheaper means of transportation to school.
‘Even the VC rode on bicycle. It was not a big deal..’ he recalled.
But the greatest culture shock for him was when he attended a friend’s birthday party. He was hoping to be served food at the party only to realise he was to come with his own food.
‘i had refrained from taking breakfast and lunch thinking I would get food to eat at the party.
‘When I got there I saw people bringing out their food. That was strange to me. I have been used to eating at parties back home.’
Irony of life
By the time he came back to Nigeria Adenubi worked with Zenith Bank, System Spec, Accenture and now in Oracle.
He told Church Times that life had played a great trick on his family recalling that his grandfather was extremely wealthy.
‘ My grandfather was a surveyor. He was the brain behind the old road that connects Ijebu towns to Ore. He was very popular.
“He was called surveyor kekere. He was quite influential and wealthy. But my father was just 4 years when his father, that is my grandfather died. So he did not inherit any of his father’s wealth. Those who were ahead of him perhaps did. But he had to start living his own life.”
Adenubi’s father had to manage to train his seven children and began to make a mark for himself. It was because of the paucity of funds that he had to relocate to Ijebu Ife where all the children went to school.
But that decision turned out to be the best thing that happened to the family.
Adenubi recalled, ‘while growing up I saw that only a few people were comfortable around us. I determined in my heart that I was going to rewrite the story. And that was what propelled me to start reading hard.’
Ijebu-Ife.Community Grammar School
While at the community grammar school, he would go to school by weekend to read. In the whole of the school he would be the only one reading. Many of his relatives and friends had wondered at his appetite for books.
Beyond personal studies, the teachers paid more attention on him.. They saw a star in him and encouraged him along the line.
‘ My teachers especially chemistry teacher was always on me and wanted me to be the best. If I get 90 percent in a test, he believed I could get 100 percent. So he would flog me and insist I should improve. They reported me to my parents occasionally because they didn’t want me to relax. This really helped me in my studies..’
He said he was also encouraged by the performance of past students of the community school. ‘ I remember as a young boy I once saw adults listening to a news item about the sterling performance of Ijebu Ife Community Grammar School in the JET quiz competition. I think that was the year Mr Kunle Adelaja represented the school. The school came first in the whole of Ogun State and represented the state at the national level.
‘The news was everywhere. That was what spurred me to also want to excel.’ Adenubi recalled
Personal life
Married to Funmilola.Adenubi an architect by training also an old student of Ijebu Ife community Grammar School, the computer science expert says throughout his school life he did not think about women.
‘It was after I came back from Cambridge that I began to think about women. My wife was the head girl in her set back in school. By the time I came back she was already doing her Masters in Architecture at the Ahmadu Bello University. We got married thereafter. Right now she has gotten her PhD. She is a lecturer at Caleb University and also a pastor.’
Parents
Ironically, Adenubi who worships in a Baptist Church was born by parents who were Christian and Muslim. His father was a Christian when he was alive and a committed member of the Anglican Church.. His mother on the other hand ihas been a Muslim. She is the Arowosadinii of Ijebu Ife. Both parents cohabited very well and had no issue about their different faiths.
He explained that religion had never been an issue in their family. ‘We celebrate both Muslim and Christian festivals together. That was the kind of upbringing I had.
Personal conviction
Since he came of age however he has learnt to understand having a personal relationship with God is key to living a successful Christian life. ‘I strongly believe a personal relationship with God is what we all need. I don’t joke with my quiet time.
“I wake up before anybody in my house to have my quiet time before the family prayers. That has really helped me to navigate the storms of life. Some of my colleagues wonder how I get by many things. I think it goes back to a personal life of consecration and devotion to God. Beyond that the grace of God has been my staying power.’
One thing however stands out for Adenubi..it is his passion for community development and the need to impact the society. He has not stopped looking back to his old school to impact the students and has also been involved in community services at the corporate level. He is the social impact community leader of Oracle.
‘ I believe in giving back to the society that made me.’ he said.
