I met, married my husband within four months – 99-year-old first female professor, Ogunsheye

January 25, 2026 12:01 am

Ogunsheye

Nigeria’s first female professor and veteran librarian, Prof. Adetowun Ogunsheye.

*How was your childhood experience?*

Nigeria’s first female professor and veteran librarian, Prof. Adetowun Ogunsheye, shares her childhood experience, academic career journey, and other life issues with

I had an exciting childhood. I enjoyed every bit of it. I had parents who were educated, and they also valued education. My father wanted both male and female children to be educated.

He had a stint as a teacher at the CMS Grammar School. My mother also went to the Old Girls’ Seminary, which was opposite the Grammar School in Lagos.

My parents had seven children, and I am the eldest. My father was also a sportsman. He played lawn tennis, and he held the tennis tournament award for three years. It was something the family was proud of. My parents took us wherever they went. So, we got to see countries.

We travelled with them to places, and that in itself was an educational experience. One of the remarkable things about my father was that he was very keen on girls’ education. This helped me while growing up.

*What was your experience like as a student of Queen’s College, Yaba, Lagos?*

Most of my teachers were expatriates. They were English men and women. Of course, they were missionaries. They were brilliant teachers who imparted knowledge passionately.

However, there were favourites like Miss Baker in the domestic science room. We were always joking about her. She used to say, ‘You scrub along the grain.’ This became a joke among us. Everybody in my class talked about ‘you scrub along the grain.’

We were very joyful. I remember that the government quarters were behind the government house. So, we had an interest in finding out or discovering what was happening among the staff back then. I had Miss Peel, who was a mathematician.

We got on very well because mathematics was my favourite subject. I had a gift for remembering what I saw. I was a visual type of person. Once I saw anything, it stayed with me.

For instance, when I saw ‘nine’ in mathematics, I would visualise how to split it into three by three. The moment I saw that, it stuck with me. I applied this kind of method a lot. I did enjoy having her as my teacher because of the way she taught me.

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