Jacob Sogboyega Odulate (1884–1962), aka Blessed Jacob was a Nigerian

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

of Alabukun, a

patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...

Early life

From a polygamous family of Pa Odulate, Jacob Odulate was born at

Ikorodu Ikorodu is a city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the north-east of Lagos, along the Lagos Lagoon and shares boundary with Ogun State. With a population of over 1 million inhabitants, Ikorodu is currently the 12th largest city in Nig ...

Lagos state Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

in 1884. His maternal grandfather was Chief Aina Odukanmade, the first Mosene, whose father hailed from the Senlu branch of the Ranodu royal family of Imota, a town near Ikorodu. When he was 14 years old he left his father's house at

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

in which he trekked for 3 months to get to his destination. While at Abeokuta, he met a pharmacist named Dr. Sapara under whom he got the basic knowledge of curative products. As a young man, Jacob established his own manufacturing company called Alabukun where he produced all sort of patents drugs.

Alabukun drug

It was in 1918 (a year of intense

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colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

), on an evening at his modest, but cherished “headquarters” in Sapon in Abeokuta where he had built his company headquarters which is a combination of place of work, office, consulting room and a laboratory workshop. He managed to invent the Alabukun brand on that particular day with assistance from his wife and children. He was also able to produce other brands like Alabukun Mentholine and an annual journal called Alabukun Almanac which was widely distributed in Abeokuta and environs between 1920 and 1950. While producing it, most of its ingredients were gotten from

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. Alabukun Powder contains acetylsalicylic acid and caffeine as its active ingredients. A pouch of Alabukun contains 760 mg of acetylsalicylic acid and 60 mg of caffeine making a total of 820 mg plus other bulking agent and preservatives making 1000 mg powder content while the weight of a pouch is approximately 1400 mg. It is used for host of other things which include

migraine Migraine (, ) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache, most often unilateral and generally associated with nausea, and light and sound sensitivity. Other characterizing symptoms may includ ...

toothache Toothaches, also known as dental pain or tooth pain,Segen JC. (2002). ''McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine''. The McGraw-Hill Companies. is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or referred ...

sore throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. The majority of sore throats are caused by a virus, for which antibiotics are not helpful. For sore throat caused by bacteria (GAS), treatment with antibiotics may hel ...

, prevention of

blood clot A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

s, neuralgias,

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, transluminal angioplasty and ischaemic attacks. The pharmacodynamics of Alabukun powder show that it functions by preventing the production of platelet aggregation and inhibits adenosine in the body. These functions reduce pain and allows the user to breathe better by stimulating the brain and the heart. It's possible side effects if not properly use include: swelling due to fluid accumulation, asthma, vomiting, nausea and vertigo. For 100 years, the brand has remained relevant selling in all parts of

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, ...

, the

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Republic,

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

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and some parts of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

.The Alabukun brand is currently under the management of koye ODULATE, one of the grand children of Chief Jacob Odulate.

Family

He was married to Sekumade Abiodun Odulate. He made sure his children were well educated. From the return of his investment he sent his children to study at Durham,

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, the

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and

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to qualify as educationists, medical doctors, lawyers and engineers. One of his surviving children is Chief Mrs. Folake Solanke née Odulate who was the first female SAN in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odulate, Jacob 1884 births 1962 deaths People from Ikorodu 20th-century Nigerian inventors Nigerian health care businesspeople Patent medicine businesspeople People from colonial Nigeria 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople 20th-century Nigerian writers Businesspeople from Lagos State 20th-century pharmacists