Foremost Educationist Dies at 104

Dike Onwuamaeze

Ceremonies marking the burial of a foremost educationist in the old Western Region, the late Adepoju Akomolafe, will commence May 9 to 13.

The burial arrangement, announced by his son and the immediate past president of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Oluwatoyin Akomolafe, would commence with a service of songs at All Saints Church, Baale Oyewole Road, Ibadan, on May 9, while the funeral service and interment would be held at St. John’s Anglican Church Ido-Ekiti.

Pa Akomalafe, born on April 4, 1917, and died on January 4, 2022, would be remembered for his role in laying the foundation of modern education in the Western Region through the establishment of many secondary schools.

Akomolafe was recruited in 1954 to found the second secondary school in Ekiti: the Ekiti Parapo College, Ido Ekiti, among others.

He was also a close associate of the late Premier of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and was a founding member of the Action Group.

Pa Akomolafe attended Ondo Boy’s High School and St Andrews College, Oyo. He schooled at the University of London, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and postgraduate Certificate in Education.

He returned to Nigeria, taught at Igbobi College, and served as the deputy housemaster in Aggrey House under the late Cannon L. D. Mason. He later became the housemaster of Aggrey House.

Pa Akomolafe was appointed by the then Military Governor of Western Region, the late Maj.-Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, to become the first chairman of the Statutory Corporation Service Commission, Western Region, an umbrella overseeing all the corporations.

He was appointed the first chairman of the University of Nigeria, Teaching Hospital, Enugu. After the end of his successful tenure, he was appointed again as chairman of the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital until 1980.

He served in various capacities in many organisations, including the registrar of Ondo and later Ekiti, Anglican provinces, chairman of Emmanuel College Board of Governors, and chairman of Christian Council of Nigeria for 19 years.

He was married to Mrs. Comfort Ayodele Akomolafe (nee Ahonkhai). Prominent amongst many of his children are the proprietor of Supreme Education Foundation, Lagos, Mrs. Nike Adamolekun; past president of Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman of Indexbrook Oil and Gas Limited, Mr. Toyin Akomolafe; Retired Justice of the Appeal Court, Justice Tinuade Akomolafe –Wilson, and Professor of International Relations in the USA, Professor Soji Akomolafe, and other successful children in their various professions.
A service of song was held in his honour on April 2 at Braeswood Assembly of God Church, Houston, Texas.