Gabriel Akinola Deko (30 October 1913 – 5 November 1987) was 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 ...

building contractor and former regional Minister for Agriculture in the Western region of Nigeria, he was also a personal friend of Awolowo. As minister, he was involved in the promotion of an agriculture settlement scheme that would employ and pay an initial amount of capital to new graduates from an established agriculture training college. The graduates would engage in

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. This settlement scheme was borrowed from an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i agriculture development scheme,

Moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

. The scheme was partly initiated to arrest a tide in the movement of young men and women to the

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

areas where farming is hardly a career choice.

Life

Akin Deko was born in Igbotu,

Ondo State Ondo () is a States of Nigeria, state in Points of the compass, southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State (Nigeria), Western State. Ondo borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast fo ...

, Nigeria by an Idanre parent. He attended St Peters,

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, for primary education and for secondary education, he went to Government College

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

(GCI), he completed his studies in Nigeria at the

Yaba Higher College Yaba Higher College was founded in 1932 in Yaba, Lagos, Yaba, now a suburb of Lagos in Nigeria to provide tertiary education to Africans, mostly in vocational subjects and teaching. The college staff were transferred to start the University Colleg ...

in Lagos where he obtained a teaching certificate. He started work as a teacher at the Government College, in Ibadan, teaching mechanics and applied mathematics. In a few years, he developed an interest in building and in 1947 went to the Brixton School of Building in London. He later started his own building contracting firm. However, in the 1950s, he was persuaded by his friend, Obafemi Awolowo to join politics and in 1956, he heeded Awolowo's advice and contested and won a seat to the regional House of Assembly, from where he was made regional Minister for Agriculture.

Rosalynde Ainslie Ros de Lanerolle (22 January 1932 – 23 September 1993),Haward, Pat, "Jennifer Rosalynde de Lanerolle 1932–1993" (obituary), '' History Workshop Journal'' (1994), 37 (1):261–266, Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/hwj/37.1.261. also know ...

, Catherine Hoskyns, Ronald Segal. ''Political Africa: A Who's Who of Personalities and Parties'', Frederick A. Praeger, 1961. pp. 71-72. Later in his career, he was the African regional representative at the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

and he was also the pioneer Pro-chancellor of the

Federal University of Technology, Akure The Federal University of Technology Akure (also known as FUT Akure or simply FUTA) is a federal government-owned university located in Akure, Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria. It was established in 1981 by the Nigerian federal government, the ...

. He also served as the Pro Chancellor of

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 ...

and the University of Benin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deko, Akintola 1913 births 1987 deaths Yoruba politicians People from Ondo State Government ministers of Nigeria Action Group (Nigeria) politicians National Party of Nigeria politicians University of Ibadan people University of Benin (Nigeria) people Government College, Ibadan alumni Academic staff of the University of Ibadan