Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe: Physician of global reckoning

Having been born to a chemist-father, who was also a people’s warder at church, it is no surprise then that Professor Emeritus Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, born in Ondo State on 17th July, 1933, grew up to become one of Nigeria’s foremost physicians.

Having graduated from the Government College, Ibadan, where he excelled in the sciences, he gained admission into the University College Ibadan in 1951 to pursue a career in medicine. After various achievements outside Nigeria as a medical scholar, upon return to his home country, and took up a job at the Government Specialist Hospital, Adeoyo, Ibadan, after which, he went back to England for his Dphil. Programme at Oxford. When he returned, he took up an appointment as a lecturer of medicine at the University of Ibadan. This was in 1965.

He became the foremost professor of medicine to be appointed by an African university after he was promoted to chair of medicine at the University of Ibadan when he was aged 35 years old. While at the University of Ibadan, he made significant impact in the areas of hypertension and kidney ailments. It is no wonder he was honoured in 2010 by the Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited for his contribution to the management of hypertension.

A recipient of many awards, local and international, Professor Akinkugbe is also an author, and a fellow of many international organisations and institutions.

To mention a few of his appointments in the Nigerian scene, he has served as the Foundation Chairman, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB); Principal and Foundation Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin; Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria; Chairman, Planning Committee, Ondo State University; Chairman, Planning Committee, University of Abuja and Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, University of Port Harcourt.

In international quarters, he has held various laudable positions, some of which include, Rockefeller visiting fellow at John Hopkins, Yale and Washington, Seattle Medical School; member, University Grants Commission, Uganda government ; visiting professor of medicine, Harvard University and Senior Associate in Medicine, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston Massachusetts, USA; visiting Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford; Secretary to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Technical Discussions on Universities and Health for All, Geneva; member, WHO Advisory Committee on Health for Research and visiting Professor of Medicine University of Cape Town.

Professor Akinkugbe is a recipient of several Honorary Doctorates in Science, including Ibadan, the Searle Distinguished Research Award and the Boehringer lngelheim Award of the International Society of Hypertension.

As testament to his passion for health and music, an international symposium and musical concert was held in his honour at the University of Ibadan in September 2013, as part of activities in celebration of his 80th birthday. The symposium which was entitled “Global Perspectives in Emerging Diseases,” was attended by the Professor Akinkugbe in the company of his wife, and witnessed the presence of dignitaries such as Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, Dr (Chief) Olor’ogun S.F. Kuku, Mrs Bola Obasanjo, Prof. O.A. Ladipo, Prof Idris Mohammed, Prof. Grace Alele-Wiliams.

The symposium featured discussions on issues related to global health and there were presentations by Professor Pekka Puska, Prof. Kennedy Cruickshank, Prof. Peter Okebukola, among others, while the musical concert featured performances by various groups including the University of Ibadan Choir, Bells University Choir, Ayan-Agalu Soungobi Foundation, among others.

He is a member of the Selection Committee, Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership.