Dr. Samuel Olalekan Agboola Oyedeji was a man of great intellectual prowess. He passed away in early 2022 and left his family, friends and supporters to mourn him. I met Professor Lekan Oyedeji on January 19, 1953 when our father, the late Pa Johnson Oyedeji, introduced him to me.
Lekan’s life was full of activities and events. His activities and events he performed meritoriously. He attended Christ Apostolic Church Olugbode and Oniyanrin schools and served as head prefect in both schools. He also attended Adeola Odutola Comprehensive High School, Ijebu Ode with a double promotion and was sponsored to St. Andrew College Oyo. He then became governor of St. Andrews College Oyo, for a year. He taught at Adeola Odutola Comprehensive High School Ijebu Ode. Later, Adeola Odutola sponsored him to the University of Ibadan where he became the president of the student union.
After spending just one year as a teacher at Adeola Odutola Secondary School, the federal government sent him to the United Nations International School to teach. He then attended New York University where he earned a Ph.D.
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The City University of New York gave him a professorship and he later headed the university’s black studies department.
Professor Biaobuku-Lekan, a professor at the University of Ibadan, later gave him a job to work at the University of Lagos. Lekan’s life was full of activities indeed.
He was always honest, kind and hardworking.
Lekan has been very helpful in ensuring that many people receive professional training; which I am. He was instrumental in getting one of the five scholarships I used in the United States of America. Lekan Oyedeji was the first president of the Ibadan Lagelu cultural group in New York.
Lekan had a wonderful sense of humor. He traveled widely and was a good writer and an eloquent speaker. He has written numerous articles on education, economics, health and politics.
Kunle Ajao, United States.
