The Unauthorised Biography: Oba Okunade Sijuwade in the eye of history

Oba Okunade Sijuwade was born on the 1st of January, 1930 to a great royal family in the Ogboru house, Ilare, Ile-Ife. The last Ooni of Ife that the Ogboru ruling house presented (before the incumbent) reigned in Ife for many years as Sijuwade Adelekan Olubuse I. He was the first Ooni to venture out of his domain.

At the invitation of the colonial Governor, he visited Lagos in 1903 to give his ruling on whether the Oba Elepe of Epe was entitled to wear a crown which was earlier refused by Oba Akarigbo of Remo. Oba Adelekan was the father of the late Omo Oba Adereti Sijuwade, the father of Oba Sijuwade Olubuse II – the present Ooni of Ife. His mother was the late Yeyelori, Emilia Ifasesin Sijuwade.

Prince Okunade Sijuwade, as he was then called, started his elementary education at Igbein School, Abeokuta, an institution owned by the CMS Mission. He lived with his other brother under the care of their father’s good friend Chief G. A. Adebayo and his family. Chief Adebayo was the secretary to the Egba Council, under the Asoju Oba. After his elementary school education, he preceded to Abeokuta Grammar School, under the well-known educationist, The Rev. I. O. Ransome Kuti who was the principal of the school.

Early in life, Prince Okunade Sijuwade was conscious of his royal birth, and his carriage, even in school, was of one who was destined to wear the crown. Once, at Abeokuta Grammar School, The Rev. Kuti wanted to flog the young Sijuwade for some misdemeanour. As the principal raised his whip, the young prince dared the famous disciplinarian to hit a ‘king’.

This did not of course stop Rev. Kuti from meting out what he considered appropriate punishment to the erring young man who was nonetheless satisfied that he has made his point. He left Abeokuta Grammar School after five years and transferred to Oduduwa College in Ile-Ife to complete his studies under the Rev. S. A. Adeyefa. On his first day at school, mistaken for one of the new teachers and in no hurry to correct the impression, young Sijuwade took over the class in which he was supposed to be a student.

In spite of his royal posturing and youthful pranks, Prince Sijuwade is remembered by many of his classmates as a particularly diligent student and quite mature for his age. Because of his relative access to money, the prince was able to acquire many good things of life, especially clothes. He was a trend setter in school. He was one of the few students in Oduduwa College, who was familiar with life in Lagos at that time, as today, the centre of good life in Nigeria.

On leaving Oduduwa College, the young prince joined his father’s business for about three years after which the elder Sijuwade, convinced that his son had acquired sufficient on-the-job training, decided he should proceed for a course of study overseas. Before he left however, the young man on his own volition decided he needed to have journalistic training.

Career

He joined The Nigerian Tribune where he spent two years, not only as a reporter but manager in charge of business and advertisement. Thereafter, he proceeded to the United Kingdom in the early fifties to undertake a course of training in Business Management. His training was essentially in Northampton and with the Leventis Group in Manchester in 1957. He also participated in advanced business management training programmes with companies in Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Scotland, West Germany and Israel. Armed with the immense experience he acquired in these places, he returned to Nigeria a few years later to launch a career in business.