Born on 10th May, 1945, Chief Adebisi Adesola mni, is a retired Secretary to Oyo State Government and Head of Service. A 1974 graduate of the University of Ibadan (B. A. Hons English), he is a member of the National Institute, having attended a nine-month Senior Executive Course 15 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, in 1993.
Adebisi Adesola’s total public service experience (1962 – 1999) spanned through teaching, broadcast journalism and public administration. He was a pupil teacher after Modern III certification (1960) in 1962. After training as a teacher at the famous Baptist College, Iwo between 1963 and 1965, he taught at the primary and secondary (Modern) school levels. He was also a tutor at the Baptist College Iwo between 1966 and 1970, having passed his G. C. E. London examinations at ordinary and advanced levels. Here he cut his teeth in administrative responsibilities as Housemaster, a position that made him superintend over the affairs of all students in all its ramifications, including discipline, feeding, cleanliness of campus, supply of materials and petty finances. He was also the College ‘’Registrar’’ (1968 – 1970) as he arranged examinations and interviews for admission of students.
On graduation from the University of Ibadan and from the Ejigbo Baptist High School as a graduate teacher, Adesola was appointed Assistant Editor at the Western Nigeria Government Broadcasting Service (WNBS/WNTV) in 1974. Following the creation of States from the old Western Region in 1976 and the replication of the WNBS/WNTV, he opted to work for Radio O-Y-O. Equipped with a post-graduate Certificate in News Reporting of the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, Lagos in 1974 and a three-month Multi-Regional programme in television production at the Syracuse University, USA in 1976, he was demonstrably able to operate as an incisive broadcast journalist. Interviewing of high calibre personalities on radio and television was his specialty. Accordingly, he rose through the ranks to become the Chief Executive (General Manager) of the reputably acclaimed Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State – 1984 to 1990.
Adesola worked as Director General/Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Governor, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Works and Transport and the Department of Establishment and Training between 1990 and 1997 to become Secretary to Government and Head of Service for two years. He retired from public service in May 1999.Adesola worked as Director General/Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Governor, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Works and Transport and the Department of Establishment and Training between 1990 and 1997 to become Secretary to Government and Head of Service for two years. He retired from public service in May 1999.
A post retirement Executive Chairman of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo state, 2007 – 2008, Adesola is into Printing and publishing as well as Management Consultancy. He is also a veritable teacher of the Word of God in his church and many Christian fellowships, especially the Bible Study Fellowship International, wherein he has been a Group Leader for more than twenty years.
He has published his autobiography, “The Days of My Life”, in addition to being the editor of two autobiographies of another person. He had delivered papers in Workshops and Seminars for senior staff in the Oyo State public service, Ondo State public service, and local government administrators, apart from being a resource person in recruitment/promotion interviews
Chief Adebisi Adesola was the National President of the Baptist College Old Student’s Association – BACOSA (a body of all old students of the great Baptist College Iwo), between 2013 and 2016. He is the vice Chairman of the Oyo State branch of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI), a body of all alumni of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru Jos. Additionally, he is currently the Chairman of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun States, as well as Chairman, Pensions Radio, Ibadan, established by the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Oyo State Branch. He also served as the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee for the Review of the Rules and Regulations of the Oyo State Public Service (2023).
The Asiwaju of Ayetoro-Oke, the Jagunmolu of Ilora, the Aare Akogun of Iganna and the Atayese of Ilaji-Oke, is happily married with children and is blessed with four grandchildren His hobbies are photography, reading/writing and watching of documentary films on nature, current affairs and biographies.
The Chairman
Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries Oyo/Osun States (AREHSPSOOS)
Happy New Year and Best Wishes always!