Long before he stepped into the Ivory Tower as Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Denlonye Abiodun had demonstrated an entrepreneurial skill uncommon in young people. He always loved to work for money as a young boy.
He cultivated the skill while living with his grandmother, who was a kitchen staff at St. Theresa’s College, Ibadan. The woman had a grocery shop and also sold bread.
Abiodun, who is the DVC Academics of Lagos State University of Science and Technology, LASUSTECH, would help her hawk her bread. As soon as he was done selling for his grandmother, he would collect another batch of loaves from the bakery and hawk them to make money for himself.
For him, it was fun. But more than that, he needed the money to buy footballs and other soccer accessories. He had a passion for soccer. He also wanted to be able to give one of his uncles money whenever he asked.
Things changed
That was unlike a child. But that was what defined his younger days. With time however he became a bookworm, and turned out he would be an academician due to his brilliance.
While in primary 5, he wrote the common entrance examinations and got admission to Ijebu-Ife Community Grammar School, Ijebu Ife, Ogun State where life began to unravel before him.
“I experienced a sharp transition moving from Ibadan to Ijebu Ife for my secondary school education. There was no electricity in the village. But we had a generator that served us in school. That means we only had electric lights at night. It was a complete contrast to Ibadan, from where I was coming. Life was rustic and rugged in the school.” He recalled.
Beaten black and blue
He will also never forget the then principal of the school, Mr Segun Sosanya. “I was rascally while in school. I was in the Science class, but would always run to meet my friends in the Art class. I felt more comfortable with them.
“As a rule, we were not supposed to be seen in town. It’s only when we needed to fetch water from the village stream, go to church on Sunday or do some school assignments that we could be seen in town. But there was a day I went to town along with other students to have fun, at a place called Abete
‘That was our hangout spot in town. We were unwinding and having fun when the school security man came to pick us up. He led us to the principal who beat us black and blue.
‘It was one beating I can never forget. At a point, I passed out in the process. Rather than give up on me, he revived me and made sure I came around and continued the beating.’
The Solarin connection
Prof Abiodun said he suspected the principal was hard on him because he had a score to settle with his father, who had sued Dr. Tai Solarin for expelling his elder sister from Mayflower School, Ikenne. Solarin, now late, was the principal and founder of the school. I felt it was that incident that made him show that aggression toward me. It was unthinkable that a parent would sue Dr. Solarin for expelling a student. The case was a celebrated one in the country then. Incidentally, my elder sister and the principal were colleagues at Mayflower School. He knew about the case.’
That experience, however, did not stop Abiodun from excelling. By the time he finished from IICGS, he proceeded to his advanced level programme at the Ijebu Ode College of Education and from there gained admission to Lagos State University, where he studied Zoology and also earned a Master’s degree.
Voyage into journalism
After his master’s degree, he took an interest in journalism and earned a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Ogba.
He began his writing career with African Science Monitor and then moved to the Science and Environment Desk of the defunct Concord Newspapers. He was at one time the Chairman of the Science and Health Correspondents Association of Nigeria.
Ivory Tower beckons
All along, he was also involved with academics. He was lecturing at Lagos State University. He later went on to pursue a PhD at the University of Lagos, Akoka, which eventually confined him to academia.
I think it was natural for me to settle for academics. My elder brother as at the time I was an undergraduate, already had a PhD in chemical engineering. He was the head of the Chemical and Polymer Engineering Department of LASU. I was surrounded by several professors and PhD holders. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would end up in the academics.’
He has since been an academic, rising through the ranks and reaching the peak of his career.
The journey, according to him, has, however, not been a smooth one. Excelling in academics takes a lot of sacrifice and hard work. I knew from day one that I had to keep writing papers if I wanted to excel. That has helped me to get where I am today.
Abiodun, who came into academics fully in 1996, said it took him close to 20 years to become a professor from when he joined LASU as lecturer 2
Lessons from the Ivory Tower
‘What I have learnt so far is that you have to be wise in dealing with your superior. Don’t prove you know, even if you know more than them. Some superiors are incredibly supportive. They will encourage you and do everything to make sure you excel, even at their own expense. But there are a few that would not tolerate your advancement.. So you need to handle such people with wisdom.
Sharing a personal example, he said, ‘I wrote papers that I had to put my professor’s name as the lead author. I wrote a book that was launched with pomp and ceremony. But I was not given the credit. My boss wrote his name on it.
‘But I didn’t feel bad about it. I saw it as part of the training, though I would not do such. It was that same boss that now later acknowledged me and gave me recommendations. Before I became DVC, he had recommended that I be put in charge of a research institute.
Proud of his roots
Despite his feat in academics, Abiodun is a complete family man who is proud of his ancestral heritage.
He was born to a medical doctor father who was once the Chief Medical Director of the General Hospital in Shagamu, Ogun State, before it became a teaching hospital and a mother who was a nurse at the University College Hospital.
His mother is from the famed Fidipotemole family, who were eulogised by legendary musician, Chief Ebenezer Obey, in one of his albums.
His father died in 1982. He was a descendant of the Denloye Dynasty who migrated from Ile-Ife to Lagos and ended up settling in the Ebute Meta part of the state.
Ijebu-Ife
Married to Folayemi, a retired school principal who is currently self-employed, Abiodun affirmed that Ijebu Ife, where he had his secondary education, has become home. Many of my friends are from the town. I belong to the Votary Club in the town, and it’s my home. Moreover, my stepfather, Chief Adeyemi, is from the town.’
His love for Ijebu Ife endeared him to the monarch of the town, who gave him the title, Otunba Fimogboye of Ijebu Ife.
RCCG Pastor
Prof Abiodun is also an Area Pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God. He explains that his traditional title is honorary and has nothing to do with being fetish or getting into traditional rites.
Recounting the goodness of God, he says, “It’s difficult to start telling how God has been good to me. He has shown up in dire situations that I sometimes marvel at his goodness.
“We once rented an apartment where we paid N5000 to the caretaker as our rent, even when we were told the rent was 30k per annum. That was many years ago.
“The caretaker collected the 5k we had because we told him that was what we could afford. He allowed us to move in. It was later that it dawned on him that it was 5k we paid.
“He came to remind us of the balance. He was not fussy about it, and we paid the money over time.
“That was unlike a typical Lagos Landlord. I have seen God fight for me. I have seen his hand in my family. There are a lot of personal testimonies of God’s goodness in my life that I can’t start sharing now,” he concluded