In an industry where many believed women are expected to serve as secretaries to bosses, not lead teams, she trained the first 67 engineers for Nigeria’s landmark Escravos Gas Project, many of whom now hold the nation’s most powerful energy positions. And in a society where girls are told to dream small, her father taught …
When Dr. Muyiwa Bamgbose reflects on his life, he says with characteristic humility, ‘I don’t know whether I have a career path because I’ve just been doing things, you know, that I come across.’ But what a journey those ‘things’ have been. At 70, this biochemistry-trained entrepreneur has recycled batteries into exported lead, turned waste …
In Nigeria’s public education system, many teachers simply want to teach and retire. Given the profession’s poor pay and the extensive community service attached to the nature of teaching, this modest ambition is understandable. Yet Dr. Rasheed Adekunle Fasasi saw the teaching profession differently, as a platform to mould minds, build character, and strengthen the …
Picture this: You’ve just graduated from Florida International University with a Master’s degree in Hospitality Management. Multiple lucrative job offers await you in America. Instead, you pack a tent, grab a torchlight and backpack, and head straight into a lion-infested forest in rural Nigeria. What greater show of courage and bravery, of being a true …
On January 5, 1946, Biodun Jeyifo was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, a child who would grow to become one of Africa’s most formidable literary critics and intellectuals. Now at 80, this once-expelled high school student stands as one of Africa’s most distinguished literary scholars. His life reads like a masterclass in transforming youthful rebellion into …
The advent of Broadcasting Corporation in the Western Region of Nigeria didn’t just create jobs, it built a launchpad that propelled talents like Yemi Lijadu and Wole Soyinka from local stages to global platforms, representing not just their nation but the entire African continent on the world stage. Born on November 6, 1929, at Moloney …
In an era where technology increasingly shapes how we communicate, and many abandon their mother tongues in pursuit of global lingua francas, Omolabake Adenle chose a different path. Rather than denigrating her mother tongue, she built a digital innovation to promote it, making Yoruba language available in the tech world. This 43-year-old Nigerian-American engineer, entrepreneur, …
Your place of birth does not determine your greatness, neither does your gender. Yoruba Akinkanju women have continued to affirm this reality through their exploits in various fields. Here is Funke Opeke, an Ibadan-born woman whose digital infrastructure connected an entire sub-Saharan region to the world, allowing children, youths, and nations access to digital technologies …
In a nation where women’s education was once considered optional, Professor Felicia Adetowun Ogunsheye carved a path that would inspire generations. Born on December 5, 1926, in Benin City to James Herbert Odukoya and Sabina Banjo of Ijebu-Ode, she emerged as Nigeria’s first female professor, shattering glass ceilings across multiple domains. Now at 99, her …
On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, at 3 AM, the Yoruba intellectual community lost one of its brightest stars. Professor Abdulgafar Siyan Oyeweso transitioned into eternity, leaving behind an indelible legacy of scholarship, cultural preservation, and selfless service to the Yoruba Homeland. Yet he lives, and this is beautifully expressed in Professor Toyin Falola’s tribute that: …
An Archive in the Sky: A Tribute to Professor Siyan Oyeweso (1961–2025) Read More »
