Olusola Adeyeye is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

biologist and politician who was elected Senator for the Osun Central constituency of

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the April 2011 federal elections. He ran on the

Action Congress of Nigeria The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a Nigerian political party formed via the merger from the coming together of a faction of Alliance for Democracy, the Justice Party, the Advance Congress of D ...

(ACN) platform. He also got re-elected into the Nigerian senate under the platform of the

All Progressive Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, th ...

(APC) in 2015.

Background

Sola Adeyeye was born in Ila,

. He attended Obokun High School when it was merged with Ilesa Grammar School. Adeyeye attended the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

, where he was the editor of a students' newspaper. When the military government of

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...

lifted the ban on politics in 1978, he worked for the

Unity Party of Nigeria The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was a Nigerian political party that was dominant in western Nigeria during the second republic (1978–1983). The party revolved around the political leadership of Obafemi Awolowo, a sometimes polemical politicia ...

(UPN), the party of Chief

Obafemi Awolowo Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first Premier of the Western region of Nigeria. He was known as one of the key figure towards Nigeria's independence movement from 1957 ...

. After Awolowo failed to be elected president in 1979, Adeyeye went abroad where he earned his graduate degree. He earned a PhD from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. Adeyeye later became a Professor of Biology at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

. Adeyeye married Mojisola Adeyeye, and they have two daughters and one son. His wife attended the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal and public research university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, South-east Nigeria. Founded in 1955 by Nnamdi Azikiwe who was Governor-General of Nigeria between 1960 and 1963 ...

, obtaining a BsC in pharmaceutics in 1976, and went on to the University of Georgia where she obtained a PhD in pharmaceutics in 1988. She is founder of Drugs for AIDS and HIV Patients, a nonprofit organization committed to prevention, education, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS children in Nigeria. Adeyeye is Chief Executive Officer of Elim Pediatric Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Political career

Adeyeye was the Secretary-General of the United Democratic Front of Nigeria (UDFN), an overseas organization that promoted a return to democracy in Nigeria. After returning to Nigeria, Adeyeye was Chairman of Ifedayo local government in Osun State. He was elected a member of Federal House of Representatives in April 2003, representing Boluwaduro/Ifedayo/Ila Federal Constituency, holding office until April 2007. He was among those strongly opposed to allowing President

run for a third term. The regional tabloid Osun Defender selected Adeyeye as ''Man of the Year'' because of his principled stand on this issue. In the April 2011 election for the Osun Central Senatorial seat, Adeyeye won with 129,527 votes, ahead of runner-up Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) who received 49,001 votes. His opponent, a former governor of the state, accepted defeat with good grace and congratulated Adeyeye on his victory. At the 8th Senate valedictory session, Senator Adeyeye gave his remark on the Saraki-led Senate administration. He opined that the errors made in the 8th Senate, should not be repeated in the 9th Senate. He equally said that the 8th Senate performance was poor.

Personal life

He is married to Moji Christianah Adeyeye. The couple have two daughters and a son.

Awards and honours

* Presidential Award as the most Innovative – State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Chairman in Nigeria (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adeyeye, Olusola Living people Senators of the 8th National Assembly (Nigeria) Senators of the 7th National Assembly (Nigeria) People from Osun State University of Ibadan alumni Nigerian expatriate academics in the United States University of Georgia alumni Yoruba academics Yoruba politicians Duquesne University faculty All Progressives Congress politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the 5th National Assembly (Nigeria)