# Oladele Ajose

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**Oladele Adebayo Ajose** (20 September 1907 – 2 July 1978) was a [Lagos](/source/Lagos) prince who was the [vice-chancellor](/source/Chancellor_(education)) of the [Obafemi Awolowo University](/source/Obafemi_Awolowo_University).[1] He was an early advocate of primary health care in [Nigeria](/source/Nigeria)[2] and the first tenured African [professor](/source/Professor) at the [University of Ibadan](/source/University_of_Ibadan)[3] and in Nigeria.[4] He was one of the earliest Africans to hold a professorial chair.[5][6]

## Education and career

He attended [Methodist Boys' High School, Lagos](/source/Methodist_Boys'_High_School,_Lagos) and [King's College, Lagos](/source/King's_College,_Lagos) for secondary education[citation needed]. He later moved abroad and went to study at the [University of Glasgow](/source/University_of_Glasgow) from 1927 to 1932, graduating MB ChB in 1932, taking the Diploma in Public Health in 1935 and proceeding to a MD in 1939.[7] His thesis title was *Comparative study of Variola & Varicella in Nigeria*. It was while in Glasgow that he met his wife: Beatrice Roberts.[8] The couple returned to Nigeria in 1936, and later raised three daughters and a son.

He started his career as an assistant medical officer for health in Lagos.[9] He was later promoted to the position of medical officer for health. As a health official, he started and promoted the British [Red Cross Society](/source/Red_Cross_Society) of Nigeria, which later became known as the [Nigerian Red Cross Society](/source/Nigerian_Red_Cross_Society).[10] He also established the Infectious Disease Hospital in Lagos.[11] In 1948, with the creation of the [University College, Ibadan](/source/University_College,_Ibadan), he left his administrative attire for university drapery and was appointed lecturer, and later professor of [preventive medicine](/source/Preventive_medicine).[12]

### Early promoter of primary care

He was one of the earliest proponents of [primary health care](/source/Primary_health_care). He believed that [public health](/source/Public_health) issues should not only be limited to the rooms of academia but be brought to communities. He based his community health care effort at Ilora, a town in the then [Oyo State](/source/Oyo_State). There, he made sure the community was involved in every step of decision making and choice of health care service. As part of the project, the community established [fish ponds](/source/Fish_pond) mostly stocked of [tilapia](/source/Tilapia) fish; the ponds were built to provide ample protein for the citizens. The establishment of fish ponds around swamps later led to the creation of means of eradicating schistosomiasis[13] in Ilora and also introduced a framework for nutrition provision in Nigeria and Africa.[14]

In 1964, he contested the throne of [Oba of Lagos](/source/Oba_of_Lagos) with the eventual winner, [Oba Oyekan](/source/Adeyinka_Oyekan).[15]

His daughter is Ambassador [Audrey Ajose](/source/Audrey_Ajose).[16]

## References

1. ["University of Glasgow :: Story :: Biography of Oladele Adebayo Ajose"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230319124929/https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3007&type=P). *www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk*. Archived from [the original](https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3007&type=P) on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 2022-04-23.

1. ["Nigeria | History, Population, Flag, Map, Languages, Capital, & Facts | Britannica"](https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria). *www.britannica.com*. Retrieved 2022-04-26.

1. ["University of Ibadan"](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/university-ibadan). *Times Higher Education (THE)*. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2022-04-26.

1. ["Remembering Ajose, first OAU VC"](https://guardian.ng/opinion/remembering-ajose-first-oau-vc/). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian_(Nigeria))*. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2022-04-23.

1. ["Oladele Adebayo Ajose – DAWN Commission"](http://dawncommission.org/oladele-adebayo-ajose/). Retrieved 2020-05-27.

1. ["Prince Oladele Adebayo Ajose. (1907–1978) A Lagosian and a Trailblazer."](http://happylagosian.blogspot.com/2009/10/o-mooba-oladele-adebayo-ajose-who-died.html?m=1). *Happy Lagosian*. 9 October 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2014.

1. ["Oladele Adebayo Ajose – DAWN Commission"](http://dawncommission.org/oladele-adebayo-ajose/). Retrieved 2020-05-26.

1. Adesina, Olutayo Charles (2014-01-01). [*Between Colonialism and Cultural Authenticity: Isaac Ladipo Oluwole, Oladele Adebayo Ajose, Public Health Services in Nigeria, and the Glasgow Connection*](https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004276901/B9789004276901-s006.xml). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-27690-1.

1. ["Remembering Ajose, first OAU VC"](https://guardian.ng/opinion/remembering-ajose-first-oau-vc/). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian_(Nigeria))*. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2022-04-23.

1. [*Africa in Scotland, Scotland in Africa: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Hybridities*](https://books.google.com/books?id=8mLPBAAAQBAJ&dq=oladele+adebayo+Ajose+as+a+health+official,+he+started+and+promoted+the+British+Red+Cross+Society+of+Nigeria,+which+later+became+known+as+the+Nigerian+Red+Cross+Society&pg=PA97). BRILL. 2014-09-25. ISBN 978-90-04-27690-1.

1. ["University of Glasgow :: Story :: Biography of Oladele Adebayo Ajose"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230319124929/https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3007&type=P#:~:text=In%201961,%20Ajose%20was%20made,became%20the%20Nigerian%20Medical%20Association.). *www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk*. Archived from [the original](https://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3007&type=P#:~:text=In%201961,%20Ajose%20was%20made,became%20the%20Nigerian%20Medical%20Association.) on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 2022-04-23.

1. ["University of Glasgow :: Story :: Biography of Oladele Adebayo Ajose"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210728010135/https://universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3007&type=P). *universitystory.gla.ac.uk*. Archived from [the original](https://universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3007&type=P) on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 2020-05-26.

1. ["Search | Britannica"](https://www.britannica.com/search). *www.britannica.com*. Retrieved 2022-04-26.

1. "Tribute to Late Oladele Adebayo Ajose", *Vanguard*, Nigeria. 17 July 2003

1. "Lagos Obaship: Royal Family Petitions Tinubu", *ThisDay*, Nigeria. 7 May 2003.

1. ["Foreign women married Nigerians, nigerwives, foreign women in nigeria"](https://nigerwives.wixsite.com/nigeria). *nigeria*. Retrieved 2022-04-23.

## External links

- [http://www.awori-kitigbe.org/ALSI.htm](http://www.awori-kitigbe.org/ALSI.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Oladele Ajose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oladele_Ajose) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oladele_Ajose?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.