The first professor of medicine to be appointed by any African University, Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, has died in Ibadan at the age of 87 years.
He studied and taught at some of the world’s most prestigious universities, including the University of London, Balliol College, University of Oxford England and Harvard Medical School Boston, USA.
He was Chairman, Vesta Healthcare Partners and Chairman of the Presidential Projects Implementation Committee (PPIC) on refurbishing of Teaching Hospitals in Nigeria.
He was also a chairman of the Board of Management of University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria and one-time Chairman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
He also served as Pro-Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt; was a former Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria; a former Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin; and a former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
Akinkugbe practised medicine for 60 years. During the period, he pioneered the establishment of two critical clinics, one in hypertension and the other in renal disorders at the UCH, Ibadan. Both clinics were firsts in Africa.
After retirement, Akinkugbe established his own clinic, the Ibadan Hypertension Clinic, which he managed for 20 years.
Sources said that the late Professor Oladipo Akinkungbe had been sick for some time.
According to the source, he was initially flown to Germany for treatment but just came back last week.
He died quietly in a private residence in Ibadan.
