Olufunmilayo I. Olopade was born in 1957 in Ogun State and hails from Ekiti State. She grew up as the fifth of six children, the quiet one who would one day speak loudly enough for the world to hear. From the bustling streets of Abeokuta and Ibadan in South-West Nigeria to the halls of some …
Amina was born in Lagos in April 1961, but her ancestral root is traced to Igan Alade, a town in the Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State. She grew at the intersection of these two worlds, acosmopolitan Lagos and ancestral Ogun State, and has spent six decades extending her influence across both. Amina …
On 27 April 2026, Kunle Soname quietly turned 60. Few lives in contemporary Nigerian history carry the weight, or the reach, that his does. He built Bet9ja into one of Africa’s largest gaming platforms; became the first Nigerian to own a European football club; launched an airline; co-founded a bank; guided Remo Stars FC to …
History remembers the golden era of the Western Region as the moment Nigerian development reached its peak — a time when visionary men laid the foundations of education, governance, and civic life that a generation would inherit. Yet military intervention and political upheaval cut that trajectory short, scattering the seeds of what might have been. …
Careers in the financial system are often shaped by short-term ambition and visible rewards, but that of Bukola Smith offers a compelling alternative rooted in purpose, discipline, and long-term thinking. From her upbringing in Ogun State to her rise across Nigeria’s most influential financial institutions, her journey reflects the power of intentional choices over convenient …
There is a particular kind of excellence that does not announce itself. It simply shows up with rigour, with principle, and with an almost stubborn commitment to solving the problem at hand. That is the excellence of Professor Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola. To encounter her story is to encounter a Nigeria that is possible: one where …
In the Southwest, we have a proverb that says “Ìwà rere lẹ̀ṣọ́ ènìyàn” — good character is a person’s jewel; it is what truly adorns a man. We say it so often it has become almost decorative. But every generation or so, a man comes along and actually wears it — out loud, at cost, …
The life of Professor Oyewale Tomori is a compelling testament to how policy, perseverance, and purpose can converge to shape history. Born into a large farming household in Ilesa, his early life seemed destined for anonymity. Yet, the introduction of free education under Obafemi Awolowo altered that trajectory, opening a path that would carry him …
Ìyá ni wúrà, ìye bíye — “mother is gold” — is a beloved Yoruba song that eulogises the impact of mothers, particularly Yoruba mothers, on society. That impact reached an extraordinary new level with Adedotun Fowora Akande, whose sacrifice of a flourishing banking career to care for her son with autism ultimately birthed Nigeria’s first …
Dotun Akande: How One Nigerian Mother Built Nigeria’s First Autism Centre Read More »
As Professor Babajide Owoeye marks his 70th birthday, his life offers a remarkable story of scholarship, vision, and institution-building in Nigeria’s educational landscape. Renowned as a scholar of International Relations, he is equally distinguished as an educational entrepreneur whose vision spans the entire knowledge value chain. From establishing a book publishing enterprise to founding a …
