The Quintessential Librarian: Late Dr Benedict Adekunle Oladele

Dr. Benedict Adekunle Oladele was a University Librarian at the first and the best University in Wst Africa, he was not just an ordinary individual but one who was always passionate and put in his best in whatever he did during his lifetime. He was a good citizen of Nigeria as he was born in Kabba, Kogi State, Nigeria,  in 1953.

Youtube: Dr. B.A. Oladele -the Quintessential Librarian

Just as we all know how important education is, he was fortunately born into a family where education is being cherished and was thereby registered in a primary school which he had in both Kaba and Kaduna state.  After his secondary education, he applied to study Law at Ahmadu Bello University, but before that, he had already studied A-level from 1975-1976. Since his application to the university would take a process, he had to wait for nine-month. But as someone who was hardworking, he was able to secure a job in a library at the college of administrative and business study pool technique, Kaduna state.  When the admission list came out, he was not given Law that he applied for, he was rather given admission to study library science for his first degree and as destiny would have it,  that was the beginning of his journey in the field of Librarianship. Due to the accumulated interest and fun he had while studying Librarianship for his first degree, he decided to further his studies in that same field, and proceeded to the University of Ibadan for his masters and Ph.D. program and later had his Fulbright fellowship at the University of California, UCLA Los Angeles.

Upon his graduation in 1979 from the library school, automatically, he was upgraded from his former position in the library to the position of a Librarian II which indicated his starting point as a certified and professional Librarian, and gradually, he found a strong ground in the profession. Due to the fact that he was a kind of person who does not relent when he comes to seeking knowledge, he exposed himself to different trends in the profession by attending conferences, seminars, workshops among others which were part of those things that assisted him in getting promoted from one level to the next, and sometimes, he had to change job from Librarian 1 to senior Librarian until he got to a stage where he was allowed to start taking administrative decision for the library due to his great knowledge and experience in the field.

In every profession, there is always one or more challenges faced by professionals. One of the challenges he faced, was during his early stage as a Library professional which was the issue of low self-esteem, not being confident to tell people the kind of profession he was into because, at that time, people always look down on Librarianship, they did not give regard to it as they always give to others like the medical and legal professions. Over the years, Librarians also came together and fought for their reputation as Librarianship is indispensable in every field.

During one of the interviews that was had with him during his lifetime by Optimistic point, he stated his view about what is required to become a professional Librarian. He said that one needs to first develop and nurture interest in the field and also to have great passion in it, which he meant by the ability to gain, manage, make effective use and sharing of knowledge. He also made it known that one has to be a good reader (smart reader) which is part of the skills required in classifying information resources or in technical terms "Organization of Knowledge".

There is this belief that everyone has an optimistic point that drives their spirit towards achieving their goal. His optimistic point was that he always remember what his father always told him that "Never you say No to yourself, and never you say something is impossible", because to his father, everything is possible, his view was that in every difficult situation or challenge, one needs to look at the brighter side of that challenge and turn the so-called challenge into a positive force. That view was one of the major things that helped him in pushing forward, he has never given up on any challenge, all that he did was to have some critical thinking and analyse the situation, and then check the bright side of the challenge and convert it to a positive force just like his father has trained him to do so.

"No shortcut to the top, walk the ladder to the top, keep the ethics of the profession, the sky is your limit". This is an important quote of Dr. Benedict to the younger ones who are also willing and aiming to get the best out of life. His advice to all parents was that they should allow their children to choose their career, and that parent should not live their children's life for them, rather, they should allow the children to live their lives by themselves in order to be independent and have great confidence in themselves as some parents tend to command their children towards a particular profession due to their own ego and selfish interest.

Dr Benedict Adekunle was indeed a mentor, a father, and a jolly good fellow, he was a devoted Christian and had a happy family of his own before he was called to rest at the feet of his Lord and creator.

___________________

Credit:

•  Akincrown 🖋️ -CheheSkyNews Writer 
• Dr. John Alonge   -Publisher