10/10/2026
Professors Ojetunji and Beatrice Aboyade: 2 great minds bounded one legacy
Professor Ojetunji Aboyade and his wife, Professor Beatrice Olabimpe Aboyade, belonged to the remarkable category of couples who build homes together, build families, nurture generations of intellectuals and leave behind legacies that continue to inspire long after they are gone.
Their story is one of scholarship, service, intellectual excellence and commitment to Nigeria's development.
Born on September 9, 1931, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade was one of Nigeria's distinguished economists and public intellectuals. He studied economics at the University of Hull and the University of Cambridge in Britain before returning to Nigeria, where he became a leading voice in economic policy and national development.
He taught at the University of Ibadan, headed its Department of Economics and served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, during a formative period in the institution's history.
His contribution went beyond the university classroom. He advised on national economic planning and participated in important policy discussions that shaped thinking about Nigeria's development.
But he had another remarkable scholar beside him.
Professor Beatrice Olabimpe Aboyade was a distinguished intellectual in her own right.
Born in Ijebu-Ode, present-day Ogun State, on August 24, 1935, Beatrice Aboyade was an accomplished academic whose contributions to librarianship, literature and information management helped expand access to knowledge in Nigeria.
She attended Queen's College and later studied at the University of Ibadan and the University of Michigan in the United States. She earned her doctorate in English Literature from the University of Ibadan in 1970 and became a professor of Library Studies in 1978.
She was widely recognised as a pioneer in Nigerian librarianship and was reported to be the first woman in sub-Saharan Africa to earn a PhD in English Literature.
At the University of Ibadan, she taught, researched and served as head of the Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies. Her work also extended beyond the university campus through the Rural Development Information System, which sought to make useful information more accessible to rural communities.
Her vision was that knowledge should not remain locked away in universities and libraries. It should reach ordinary people and help them improve their lives.
The couple married on April 2, 1961, and raised four children while pursuing demanding academic careers. Their partnership brought together two different but complementary fields: economics and the study and dissemination of knowledge.
Professor Ojetunji Aboyade passed away in 1994. His wife continued her distinguished life of scholarship until her demise on March 3, 2023, at the age of 87.
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