Arch Deji Oyenuga Is a history maker of sort. Though his good deeds are not making the headline, posterity will always be kind to him in years to come.
As a young man, he had a great burden for the education of people of his town. It was that burden according to him that gave birth to Ijebu Ife community Grammar School, Ogun State; the iconic school that has produced great minds spread across the globe.
Oyenuga who clocked 90 on June 29 2025 recalled how he mooted the idea of the school shortly after he came back from his studies in Britain.
In a voice note response to questions sent to him by Church Times, he said , ‘When I came back from Britain I discovered that there was no secondary school in my town, Ijebu Ife. By the way Ijebu Ife is a historical town.
The town had earned itself some reputation across the southwest. But it had no secondary school despite being popular.
Many of the sons and daughters of the town were going to other towns for their secondary school education. I felt there was a need to change that narrative. I went to my father who was then the Ajalorun of Ijebu Ife (king of the town) and shared the idea of starting a secondary school in the town with him .
He welcomed the idea and wondered how it would materialise. He said there had been efforts in the past to start a school but the effort had not yielded fruit. But he agreed in principles that I could go ahead and give it a try .
Having got the consent of his father, Arch Oyenuga went ahead and mobilised his friends including the current monarch of the town, HRH Oba Adesesan Oguntayo, Chief Arch Olajide Adebanjo and a few others who bought into the idea of the school.
They immediately set machinery in motion and contributed money to kick off the paper work for the school and other logistics.
He recalled, “Fortunately for us, we had a friend who was then the commissioner for education in Ogun State. He was the one that helped to facilitate the process of registering the school.
As soon as the school was registered they began to mobilise resources for its construction. ‘I was living in Lagos, Adebanjo was living in Ibadan and Oguntayo was in Lagos too. But around that time, Oguntayo was travelling out of the country. But before he left, he made his financial contribution to the school. Chief Adebanjo and I also made our contributions.
I remember also that there was a funds raising ceremony on a particular Muslim festival at the palace. The Muslims were having their festival and they came to greet the kabiyesi who was my father. It was during this festival that the entire town was mobilised to make financial contributions towards the establishment of the school.
There was this popular musician called Tony Adez who performed that day and many societies in town were encouraged to make financial commitment to the school. That was what signalled the take off of the school.”
Oyenuga who studied Architecture at the Hammersmith College of Art & Building, School of Architecture in Britain said by the time the idea of the school fully materialised, he and the current Oba of the town deferred to Otunba Adebanjo who took up the challenge of following up on the progress of the school. ‘Chief Adebanjo represented our interest well in the school. He was quite close to the school and he did a lot for the school.” Said Oyenuga.
Oyenuga’s early years
Born in Jos to a police officer father who later became the Ajalorun of Ijebu Ife (monarch) and a trader mother, Arch Oyenuga said growing up as a young boy posed a moral challenge to his parents.
‘They found out that I was following some bad boys while we were in Jos. So they decided to send me back to Ijebu for my education. I resumed at Emmanuel School, Isonyin an Ijebu town and read up to Standard 5.
Fortunately his father was transferred to Lagos. During one of the holidays he went to Lagos and decided to stay back in Lagos where he completed his primary education at St Jude’s School. From there he gained admission to Eko Boys High School for his secondary school education.
After his his time at the Eko Boys High School, he secured job at the school of Agriculture in Ibadan . But he soon found out that he was not cut out for agriculture. To him it was a profession that would confine one to the bush.
He moved from there to work with the defunct Cooperative Bank of Western Nigeria. It was from there he decided to travel out of Nigeria to study architecture
He said he was motivated to study the course because his uncle, Professor Oyenuga who he said was a foremost architect in Africa inspired him to do so.
“He saw that I was good in fine art and felt the appropriate profession for me was architecture.”
Life in Britain
Oyenuga thus travelled to Britain by ship in 1960 and was to face yet another hurdle that bothered on racial discrimination. ‘We suffered a great deal of discrimination as blacks while in the UK. But I was not dissuaded. I was more concerned about what took me to the UK. That mind-set paid off. I came out with distinction in the school of architecture after 7 years including one year of internship.”
By the time he was armed with the certificate the coast became clearer for him to make exploits. He first secured work with an architecture firm called James Cubitt & Partners while in Britain. He came back to Nigeria in 1970 to work with the branch of the firm. He later went into private practice.
Reflections on life
Reminiscing on life, Arch Oyenuga said his parents did a great job bringing him up and ensuring that he had the best of education.
His father however ensured that his mother played an equal role in his education. ‘While I was in England my father ensured that my mother paid 50 percent of the upkeep allowance for me. They both shared the financial burden.”
On how his father became the monarch of Ijebu Ife, he said, “I think it was around 1960 when the them Obaship stool became vacant due to the death of the then uling Oba. It then became the turn of the Amesofe Ruling House which we came from. And it was agreed that my father would be the next king. My father consulted me and asked if he should take the offer. I told him since it was our entitlement as a family, he should take it. That was how he became the Ajalorun.”
IICGS
At 90, Oyenuga has a sense of deep reflections and has every cause to thank God. He believes the grace of God has been his sustaining power while recalling some of the many challenges he has had to go through in life.
One thing that gives him joy was being was part of the prime movers of IICGS. He said, ‘I am grateful to God the school has finally taken shape’
On what he has learnt in life, Oyenuga says “life has taught me not to be self-centred and that I should try to be part of whatever project is being done around me.”