My Journey from Africa to America:: In Search of Education

By Dr. Tommy Olawuyi Oke

Nigerian-born Dr. Tommy Olawuyi Okes story pays tribute to a remarkable journey from Nigeria through England to the United States in pursuit of an education. He came from Ogbomosho, Oyo State in Nigeria. Tommy Olawuyi Oke is a true pioneer among Nigerian immigrants who today have the highest levels of education in the U.S. Tommy Oke was the fi rst student from Africa to attend Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He completed his pre-pharmacy at TSU before obtaining his BS in Pharmacy from the University of Oklahoma. He went on to earn advanced degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Harbor, MI, where he graduated with both MS in Pharmacy and Pharm.D. (Doctor of Pharmacy) degrees. He has been recognized for his expertise by being appointed and re-appointed as a consultant and member the World Health Organization (WHO) expert committee on International Pharmacopeia and Drug preparations. He credits his success to an unshakeable faith in God that has given him spiritual wholeness throughout his amazing journey to the USA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 2, 2009
• ISBN: 9781441575746

Book preview

My Journey From

Africa to America

IN SEARCH OF EDUCATION

The Story of

Dr. Tommy Olawuyi Oke

From Ogbomosho, Nigeria

The First African Student to Attend

Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas

Copyright © 2009 by Dr. Tommy Olawuyi Oke.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without

permission in writing from the copyright owner.

All original photographic material is in possession of the author.

For information and inquiry, contact the author at www.Tommyoke.com

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

64687

Contents

Preface

The Oke Family Site

Genealogy

Education in Nigeria in the 1960s

Dr. Oke Returns Home

Educational Achievement Runs in the Family

An Inspired Career of Service and Witness

Reflections

Preface

This book tells the true story of Tommy Olawuyi Oke, the first African child from Ogbomosho, Nigeria, West Africa, to travel to Houston, Texas, to pursue his higher education, thereby establishing future history in the United States.

The Oke Family Site

This book is dedicated to my four children, the first generation of the Oke family in the United States.

Moreover, this book serves as memorial to my first son, Babatunde Oke, whose untimely demise has changed my life forever. Babatunde will be remembered as part of the first generation and first son of the dynasty of the Tommy Olawuyi Oke family in the United States.

Genealogy

I, Tommy Olawuyi Oke, was born in Zungeru, Nigeria, to Mr. James Alabi Okegbemi Oyeyiola and Ruth Aina Oke, daughter of Chief Alasha of Ogbomosho. Five children were born to this union: Tommy Olawuyi Oke, David Oladipo Oke, Olalonpe Oke, Jeremiah (Alhaji) Oyewola Oke, and Alice Oyedoyin Oke. I married Mrs. Alice Beatrice Copland Oke, an American born at New York Hospital, New York, New York, USA. The following children were born to this union: Mrs. Rose Funlayo Oke-Davis, Mrs. Ireti Oladunni Oke-Pollard, the late Mr. Babatunde Folorunsho Oke, and Mr. Oyedeji Ibukun Oke. My brother, the late David Oladipo Oke, had two children, Miss Janet Wuraola Oke and Moses Olasunkanmi Oke.

•   Grandfather—Oyeyiola (first, Chief Olasoko of Ogbomosho, Nigeria)

•   Grandmother—Oladunni Oke Oyeyiola

•   Father—James Alabi Okegbemi Oyeyiola

•   Two brothers

•   Father two wives

•   Half sister Miss Oyeyoyin Oke married to Mr. Ajala

My father’s mother, Oladunni, a beautiful woman, was the youngest and most loved and favored of my grandfather’s three wives. My grandfather’s other wives and their children were jealous of her, her children, my father, his two sons, and a daughter because to them, it appeared that my grandfather favored and loved his third wife and her children, of which my father was the first son. They were envious of him and ganged up against my father, his brother, and his sister. Therefore, after the death of my grandfather and his beloved wife, the other family showed hatred to my father and his two brothers. This is expected in a polygamy family.

My father was very popular, both civically and politically. He was so popular in town that the Shoun of Ogbomosho, king of Ogbomosho, Oyewumi I, chose him as the chief of staff similar to what happens in military governments of the modern day administrations in many African military regimes. He was involved in the settlement of all grievances, matters, and the final outcome of cases where the judgment was dependent on the Shoun of Ogbomosho. His responsibility was to advise the Shoun and help deliver justices. Reared in Ile Olasoko, Ita Olola area of Ogbomosho, he became very close to the Reverend Lafinhan’s family in Oke-Ola. After he became a Christian, he left the worship of Olorisha-Oko of his ancestors. My father, now a Christian, left his power in the city as chief of staff in Ogbomosho. Concerned about the safety of his family, he, my mother, his sister, and two brothers departed for Northern Nigeria, Zungeru, where I was born. He established a merchandising business selling clothing and doing general trading. He later became the head of the Yoruba tribe in Zungeru, a Muslim town of the Hausa tribe of Northern Nigeria.

Education in Nigeria in the 1960s

Nigeria, with a population of over ninety million then, is a federation of three countries in one, divided naturally by River Niger into three regions known as Western, Eastern, and Northern Nigeria before independence. Each of the three divisions has many tribes but generally three major languages, one in each division. I am of the Yoruba tribe of Western Nigeria. The Yoruba tribe consists of mostly pagans and idol worshipers as well as a few protestant