24/05/2026
OMG! The Sordid Past of Three Adeyemi College of Education Products
By Wale Ojo-Lanre, Esq.
Do not be deceived by their present titles, polish, grey hairs, official agbada and professional calmness.These three men once passed through Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, not as saints, not as angels, but as three restless, stubborn, brilliant and unforgettable campus characters whose past must now be exhumed with laughter, memory and gratitude.
They were three Adeyemi College boys.
Wale Café.
Wole Samanja.
Koya Prof.
Three young men who met and lubricated a friendship bond at Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, then an OAU campus, where they studied History Education, BA Ed. Their proper names?
Wale Ojo-Lanre, popularly called Wale Café, because his mother operated the famous Café 6.
Wole Oladimeji, whom we called Wole Samanja, younger brother of Professor Oladimeji.
And Koya Ogen, the quiet, deep and calculating son of an Okitipupa timber merchant, an ex-Mayflower boy, whom I intuitively named Prof long before destiny confirmed it.
We were different in temperament, but united in spirit. Wale was the social animal among the three. A unionist from Ondo State College of Arts and Science, Ikare-Akoko, OSCAS, he was already a year ahead. He loved campus life in its totality. He was in the thick of social organisation, conferences, film shows and student engagement. He was a member of K-11, arguably the richest and most flamboyant club in the college. He was also Sergeant-at-Arms of the Rotaract Club.
Wale was noise, colour, movement and mobilisation.
Wole was the opposite.
Stone-faced.
No smoking.
No drinking.
No frivolity.
No nonsense.
He was an expert in Bismarckian Alliance, good in the evolution of entente, détente and diaspora revivalism. He was a strict disciplinarian, wholly committed to Man O’ War ethics and discipline.
He was second-in-command to Olusa, one handsome boy like that. Their reign in Man O’ War was like the Buhari–Idiagbon tenure. Discipline was discipline. Order was order. Law was law. But like the Buhari–Idiagbon era, their tenure was cut short by a campus coup. Wole did not compromise when it came to Man O’ War discipline, ethics and charter. Then there was Koya.
Koya Ogen.
He had this innocent look. He walked slowly, gently and almost harmlessly. Very unassuming. You would never believe he passed through Mayflower School, that Tai Solarin slave-driving great school that burnt young souls into sturdiness, independence and mental toughness.
Koya’s face was not exciting. He was ever calm, cool and collected. The best smooth operator I have ever met in my life.
You could not discern his mind from his face.
Look at him once and you would never believe that this same quiet Koya would one day become a Professor and later Provost of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, and even refuse to press for another term. That was Koya.
He introduced us to the game of chess. He loved chess so much that he went into the production of chess boards, which he gifted to us. He was not a fastidious reader in the noisy sense, but he was a keen listener. In any engagement, Koya was 100 percent with you. He would listen deeply, absorb silently and take note of what should be and what should not be. His social life was zero. Absolute zero. Just like Wole.
Wole and Koya rarely danced. Ijo ke? Lese adiye!
Yet Koya had this enchantment, this quiet aura that naturally attracted the opposite s*x without hustling, without noise, without advertisement.
But beneath that gentle face and unassuming mien lay a potent, extra-brilliant soul. A deep thinker. A strategist. A master of chess, both on the board and in life.
Though I was a year ahead because of my A-Level background, we were one. Then one day, something happened. Adeyemi College of Education had a blossoming orchard located behind the library. But the orchard was not being properly managed. Fruits were wasting. Opportunities were wasting. Revenue was wasting.
Some of us gathered and signed a petition to the Provost, Mrs Fayemi.
At that time, the Provost was not exactly in the good book of the students. Any small matter could have been exploited to cause violence or campus unrest. But some of us thought otherwise.
We decided not to be reckless. We decided to call the attention of the Provost to the wastage and revenue loss caused by the nonchalant attitude of the authorities toward the orchard.
The tone of the letter was mature. The language was firm but respectful. The intention was constructive.
Mrs Fayemi was impressed.
She invited the undersigned to her office. She thanked us for our maturity and robust sense of responsibility. She explained some of the challenges confronting her administration and how students often failed to understand the burden of leadership.
Then she looked at us and said something prophetic.
“With the kind of minds I have seen here today, I know that one of you will one day sit on this very seat and feel how it is.”
She prayed for us.
As we exited her office, I turned to Koya and said:
“Prof Koya, that prediction is for you. You are the only one here who will become a Professor.”
We laughed and moved on.
But destiny was listening.
Years rolled by.
We all left Adeyemi College of Education.
Wale Ojo-Lanre joined the Nigerian Tribune.
Wole Oladimeji joined The Sketch.
Koya Ogen joined the academia.
Wale Ojo-Lanre later became Chief Press Secretary to an Ekiti State Governor and is today Director-General, Ekiti State Bureau of Tourism Development.
Wole Oladimeji became Chief Press Secretary to a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
And Koya Ogen became a Professor.
Not only that, the prediction of Mrs Fayemi came to pass. He became Provost of Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, and sat on the very seat where that prophecy was uttered.
Yesterday, the three Adeyemi College boys met again at a marriage ceremony in Akure.
Professor Koya Ogen’s late uncle’s son tied the knot with the daughter of Wole Oladimeji’s younger brother.
And Wale Ojo-Lanre, Esq., Director-General of Ekiti State Bureau of Tourism Development, was there as a special guest for both families.
There we were again.
Wale Café.
Wole Samanja.
Koya Prof.
Three boys from Adeyemi College.
Three different temperaments.
Three different routes.
One enduring friendship.
And as we looked at one another yesterday, wrapped in memory, age, achievement and gratitude, it became clear that true friendship does not grow old.
It only gathers history.
So, if you hear that three Adeyemi College of Education products had a sordid past, do not panic.
It was not a past of shame.
It was a past of laughter, petition, discipline, chess, stubbornness, prophecy, friendship and destiny.
And yesterday in Akure, that past stood up beautifully, smiled at us, and reminded us that the boys of yesterday are the stories of today.
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