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Her work as an academic and activist for women’s rights remains a reference point for girls and women across Nigeria, who now have greater opportunities to live their dreams than their predecessors did. Adetowun Ogunsheye was born in Benin in 1926. Both her parents were teachers at a missionary school in the city. Unlike many at the time, they were keen on educating all of their children, including the Adetowun, a girl. She attended Queens College in Lagos, and the Yaba Higher College (where she was the only female enrolled). After receiving her diploma in 1948, she went on to study Geography at Newnham College, Cambridge University. There she earned a BA and an MA (degrees). By 1954, she was back in Nigeria as a geography teacher at the Anglican Girls Grammar School in Ilesha. She also taught at the St. Anne’s School, Ibadan. In 1962, she bagged another master’s degree, in Library Science, at Simmons College, Massachusetts. Adetowun became a professor at the University of Ibadan in 1973, the first woman in Nigeria to do so. Before that, she had gotten involved in women’s rights activism. Back in 1954, she had joined the Women’s Improvement Society (WIS). There, she advocated for the rights of girls to get an education, and for equal opportunities and improved living conditions for women.
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Her activism went global when she attended the International Alliance of Women (IAW) Conference in Athens, Greece. She was made a member of the organization’s Administrative Council. Afterwards, she proposed that an international conference of West African women take place. This event happened in Ibadan in 1960. Four years later, Adetowun was a founding member of the Western Branch of the Nigerian Association of University Women (NAUW), a body that advocated improved curricula for Nigeria’s girl’s schools and universities. At the University of Ibadan, Adetowun established the Abadina Media Resource Center Library. The centre was converted into autonomous research and public service centre in 1985. Between 1977 and 1979, she was dean of the university’s faculty of education, becoming the first woman to hold this position in Nigeria. She has been a consultant to many significant organizations, including UNESCO, The World Bank, the British Council, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Although now retired, Adetowun is honoured and respected for the pioneering role she’s played in education and women’s rights activism. Did you know? Featured Image Source: Face2Face Africa
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