Adetoun Ogunsheye

Felicia Adetoun Ogunsheye
Personal details
Born	Felicia Adetowun Omolara Banjo (1926-12-05) 5 December 1926 (age 98) Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Relations	Victor Banjo, Ademola Banjo
Education	Queen's College, Lagos Yaba College of Technology University of Ibadan Newnham College, Cambridge Simmons College
Alma mater	University College, Ibadan
Profession	Librarian
Known for	Being the first Nigerian woman professor

Felicia Adetowun Omolara Ogunsheye (née Banjo; born 5 December 1926) is the first female professor in Nigeria. She was a professor of library and information science at the University of Ibadan.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Adetowun Ogunsheye was born on 5 December 1926 in Benin City, Edo State, in the southern part of Nigeria, to parents from Ogun State.[4] She is the elder sister of Lieutenant Colonel Victor Banjo and Ademola Banjo. She had her secondary education at Queens College, before becoming the only female student to attend Yaba Higher School, now Yaba College of Technology, in 1946. In 1948, she received her diploma, becoming the first woman to graduate from the school.[5] She attended University College Ibadan,[1] then went on to Newnham College, Cambridge University, UK, to study Geography on scholarship, earning BA and MA degrees in 1952 and 1956, respectively; she became the first Nigerian woman there.[1][6] She earned another master's degree in Library Science from Simmons College, Massachusetts, USA, in 1962.[7][8]

She established the Abadina Media Resource Centre Library of the University of Ibadan.[7] In 1973, she became a professor at the University of Ibadan. Between 1977 and 1979, she was appointed as the dean of faculty of education at the same university. She was the first woman to become a dean in any Nigerian university.[5] She served as a consultant to various organisations including the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (lFLA); UNESCO; International Association of School Librarianship (IASL); the International Federation of Documentalists (FID); the British Council and the World Bank.[9]

Honours

She has received the Ford International Fellow, 1961; the Hon. D.L.S. of Simmons College, 1969; the Simmons College International Alumnus Award, 1979; the Fulbright Fellowship for Senior African Scholars, 1980; the Decade of Women Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Achievement, 1985; Fellow, Nigerian Library Association, 1982 and Nigerian Academy of Education, 1985; Hon. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) University of Maiduguri, 1990; and the International Education Hall of Fame, Nigeria, 2000. She also holds the chieftaincy title of Iyalaje of Ile-Oluji 1982.[10]

The University of Ibadan named a female postgraduate hall after her under the administration of Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka.[2]

Works

Academic publications

• "The Role and Status of Women in Nigeria", Presence Africaine, Vol. 4 (1960), pp. 33–49.
• A preliminary bibliography of the Yoruba language. Ibadan, 1963.
• "Library education in Nigeria", Library Materials on Africa, Vol. 6, No. 2 (November 1968), pp. 58–60.
• "Problem of Bibliographic Services in Nigeria", Nigerian Libraries, Vol. 5, Issue 2 (1969).
• Nigerian Library resources in science and technology. Ibadan: Institute of Librarianship, University of Ibadan, 1970.
• "Library education at Ibadan University, Nigeria", UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries, Vol. 28, Issue 5 (1974), pp. 259–267.
• "The future of Library Education in Africa", Libri, Vol. 26, Issue 4 (1976), pp. 268–280.
• "Abadina Media Resource Centre (AMRC): A Case Study in Library Service to Primary Schools", UNESCO Journal of Information Science, Librarianship and Archives Administration, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January–March 1979), pp. 29–36.
• (ed.) Nigerian women and development. Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press, 1988.
• Bibliographical survey of sources for early Yoruba language and literature studies, 1820–1970. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 2001.
• A break in the silence : a historical note on Lt. Colonel Victor Adebukunola Banjo. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd, 2001.

Children's books

• My alphabet reading book. Ibadan: Spectrum Books. 1993. ISBN 9782462691, 9789782462695
• My first alphabet book: A B C. Ibadan: Spectrum Books. 1996. ISBN 9782462802, 9789782462800
• My first number book: 1 2 3. Ibadan: Spectrum Books. 1996. ISBN 9782462799, 9789782462794
• Lara and Kariba. Ibadan: Spectrum Books 2003. ISBN 9780293930, 9789780293932

Archives

Her archives are now open to researchers and the finding aids can be accessed online.[11]

See also

• University of Ibadan
• Nigerian Library Association

References

1. Sote, Lekan (7 December 2016). "Celebrating Prof Ogunsheye at 90". The Punch. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
2. Jamaz (14 August 2019). "UI Honours First Female Professor In Nigeria, Names Postgraduate Hall After Her". InsideOyo.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
3. Panata, Sara (3 September 2020). "OGUNSHEYE Felicia Adetowun Omolara (née Banjo)". Le Maitron (in French). Paris: Maitron/Editions de l'Atelier. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
4. admin (November 29, 2016). "Prof Adetoun Ogunsheye, Nigeria's first female professor, turns 90". Tribune Online. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
5. admin (January 16, 2017). "FIRST WOMEN: First Nigerian Woman To Study At Cambridge University And To Female Professor In Nigeria". Woman.ng. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
6. Waweru, Nduta (5 December 2018). "The story of Felicia Adetowun Ogunsheye, Nigeria's first-ever female professor". face2faceafrica.com. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
7. Wedgeworth, Robert; Mary Ellen Chijioke; Marco R. Della Cava (1993). World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services. American Library Association. p. 632. ISBN 9780838906095.
8. "How music brought my husband and me together – Prof Ogunsheye, 93". Punch Newspapers. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
9. "Professor Felicia Adetowun Ogunsheye – DAWN Commission". 14 November 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
10. Awe, Bolanle. "DAWN COMMISSION || PROFESSOR FELICIA ADETOWUN OGUNSHEYE - THE FIRST FEMALE PROFESSOR IN NIGERIA". dawncommission.org. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
11. "Ogunsheye Foundation Website". 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.