The autobiography is of the celebrated medical scholar Professor Allen Bankole Oladunmoye Olukayode, who was Vice Chancellor at The University of Ibadan from 1991 to 1995. Studying Medicine first at at Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London he went on to higher degrees at Edinburgh University in 1969; London University (School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene) in 1970 and Nigerian’s premier university, University of Ibadan in 1975. He was awarded the Commonwealth scholarship for Medicine from 1968 to 1970. As a professor of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Ibadan Oyediran had a significant contribution to the area of tropical and preventive health in Nigeria before attaining the zenith of academic ambition by being appointed the Vice Chancellor of one of Africa’s finest universities and Nigeria’s first, University of Ibadan.
In this autobiography, Looking Back: The History of an Oke Padi Resident, Professor Laditan travels back in time to tell the story of his life, that spans over eight decades. It is the story of his birth, early childhood, education, marriage, and career. The book deals with his polygamous upbringing and describes how he spent early childhood with his mother and grandmother in Ibadan. His life journey took him through varied experiences as he later lived in Ilaro with his paternal grandparents, both of whom were non-literate. He was fourteen-years-old when he started to live with his father and stepmother in Lagos. He attended Igbobi College in Lagos for his school certificate and higher school certificate education, after which he proceeded to the United Kingdom to study medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Professor Laditan is a retired professor of Child Health and Paediatrics. His professional career started as a Paediatric Resident at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. He later transferred his service to the University of Ibadan (UI) as a Research Fellow and Consultant Paediatrician at the Institute of Child Health, where he became Professor and Director of the Institute. In 1984, he was invited from the Institute of Child Health to be the Foundation Provost of a new Medical School, Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences (OACHS) and the Pioneer Chief Medical Director of its teaching hospital in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. In 1988, he left for Saudi Arabia and practised as a Consultant Paediatrician until he left in 2002 and relocated to the USA.
The name Nigeria was coined in Lokoja by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, while gazing out at the river Niger. So, British colonialism created Nigeria as a country, joining diverse peoples and regions in an artificial political entity along the Niger River. The territory known today as Nigeria is a very large country of multi-ethnic groups of about four hundred. The land mass is large enough to accommodate France, Belgium and Italy. The name Nigeria is derived from the River Niger which traverses the country from the North to the South. Nigeria is located on the coast of Western Africa. It has an area of 356,669 square miles (923,768 square km). At its greatest expanse, it measures about 1,200 kilometres (about 750 mi) from East to West and about 1,050 kilometres (about 650 mi) from North to South. It is bordered to the north by Niger, the east by Chad and Cameroon, the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and to the west by Benin. Niger River and the Benue, are its largest tributary, are the principal rivers in the country. The area that is now Nigeria was home to ethnically based kingdoms and tribal communities before it became a European colony. In spite of European contact that began in the 16th century, these kingdoms and communities maintains their autonomy until the 19th century. Federal Republic of Nigeria is a constitutional Federal Republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. The principal groups in the Northern part are Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, and Nupe. Other minority tribes also inhabits the Middle belt area, these include the Jukun, the Chamba and the Bata. In the region north of the upper Benue valley various ethnic groups such as Fali, Gabun, Gude, Gudu, Higi, Hona Mbula, Mumuye and Tika also inhabits the area. In the Southwest we have the Yoruba, another principal ethnic group and in the Southeast we have the Igbo people which form the third principal ethnic group. In the South-south we have the group of minorities such as Annang, Efik, Ibibio, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Isoko Uhrobo and Ukwiani. The entire ethnic group in Nigeria is over 500, parts of these are listed in appropriate section of this book.
