HRM Oba (Prof.) Adekunle Adeogun-Okunoye, Oyedeji II Eburu of Iba, Iba Osun State Nigeria
HRM Oba (Prof.) Adekunle Adeogun-Okunoye, Oyedeji II was born on 29th April, 1968 to Prince Joseph Adeboye Okunoye of Oyedeji-Alamu Ruling House, a retired teacher, private school proprietor and former chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Area and Late Mrs. Francisca Adeogun Okunoye of Ojomu’s compound, Iba, a retired elementary school principal and community leader. Adekunle is a great grandson of Oba Oyedeji Alamu of Alamu Ruling House, Iba, Ifelodun local government area of the Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-Otin Federal constituency in State of Osun.
The new monarch is well accepted and loved by the majority of the people in Iba town. Despite being accomplished academic, Adekunle is a great socialite and philanthropist. Through the activities of Francisca Adeogun Foundation (foundation in memory of his late mother), Adekunle is sponsoring merit based scholarship for Iba indigenes at primary school level. He is a generous donor at several Iba day programs and he has always responded to development fund drive in the community. His development effort transcends his immediate community to the state level. In 2008, Adekunle donated books worth tens of thousands dollar to Osun state University.
His experiences as a younger man and the close knowledge of the struggles of his people in the face of inadequate governance birthed an all-consuming desire to contribute positively to the realization of a better life for Iba, its environs and Nigeria in general. Born into nobility and raised by respected leaders in his community, Adekunle grew up gaining invaluable insight into the role of selfless service as a catalyst to the actualization of a better community.
Living in several western countries and visiting as many as 24 countries only serves to stoke Adekunle’s yearning for the speedy development of his homeland and the alleviation of the struggles of his people. His professional activities are always geared towards this end. Adekunle sees the results of adequate governance on a daily basis in his privileged position in the USA but cannot rest easy until he has brought his skills and knowledge to work for his people in particular and Nigeria in general. He believes that the benefits of his wealth of experience, international connections, academic excellence and distinguished career will not be fully utilized until it leads his people. These amongst many other reasons drive him to take on the challenge to help make his town a better place by leading his people
After his primary school education at CAC primary School in Ibadan, he returned home to attend Akinorun Grammar School, Ikirun under the guardianship of his great uncle and aunt, Alhaji and Alhaja Olarinde. After his secondary education, he proceeded to Oyo State College of Education, Ila-Orangun where he graduated with distinction in Mathematics at the age of 19. Upon graduation, Adekunle accepted a teaching position as a Mathematics teacher in Akinorun Grammar School, Ikirun, Osun State, Nigeria. After a brief period, he enrolled at Nigeria’s oldest university – the University of Ibadan, where he completed his first degree in Computer Science with Second Class Honors (Upper Division). He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria with second class honor, Upper division) in 1991, an M.Sc. in Computer Science (Group Technology) from University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finland with Eximia Cum Laude Approabatur in 2001, an M.Ed in Educational Administration from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio USA with 3.80/4.00 GPA in 2007 and Ph.D in Computer Science/Information Systems from University of Turku, Turku, Finland in 2003.
Adekunle began his career at Bytech Consulting, an Information Technology Consulting, and later moved to the banking sector as an IT supervisor at now defunct Credite Bank. After several years of working in the Nigeria banking sector, Adekunle relocated to the Gambia where he worked as a Project Manager with Quantum Associates, one of the then best IT consulting firms in West Africa. At Quantum, Adekunle led the development and implementation of one of the few indigenous Islamic Banking package. He later moved to work as a data manager at the UK Medical Research Council laboratories (MRC) in Fajara Gambia. At MRC, Adekunle participated in many clinical trials and research work that were published in top medical journals.
His insatiable thirst for self-development led him to enroll in graduate school in Finland where he obtained a Masters (M.Sc) in Computer Science at University of Jyvaskyla in Central Finland. Upon Completion, Adekunle was offered and accepted the prestigious Turku Center for Computer Science (TUCS) academic scholarship to pursue a doctoral degree (PhD) in Computer Science and Information Systems at University of Turku, Turku, Finland. Adekunle directed his doctoral research to issues plaguing information technology in developing countries with the intentions of eventually bringing this knowledge and his newly acquired skills to bear on the sub-Sahara Africa scenario in general and the Nigerian context in particular. Traces of Adekunle’s passion for rural and national development are evident in his dissertation and early publications. His PhD dissertation focuses on Knowledge Management and Global Diversity. Adekunle has added a Masters in Educational Administration (M.Ed) from Xavier University to his bag of laurels in order for him to pursue his secondary interests that include educational financing, education reforms and networked learning environment in developing countries;
Upon completion of his PhD at TUCS, Adekunle received job offers from universities and financial institutions around the globe and eventually, he accepted an Assistant Professor position at the prestigious graduate school of the Williams College of Business, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Adekunle is a prolific publisher whose research continues to enjoy broad international acclaim. He is the proud winner of various international awards in ICT and currently holds the very competitive Fulbright Scholar Fellowship and O’Connor Fellowship for his work on ICT and Global Climate Change. He is regularly invited to speak at international conferences and is an avid promoter of ICT conferences and think tanks on the African continent. By dint of hard work, honesty and integrity, Adekunle was promoted and became a tenured Associate professor at Xavier University in February 2009. Xavier University is always ranked among the top five universities in Mid-West USA.
In 2015, Adekunle was awarded a highly competitive Fulbright fellowship by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of US Department of State to further his research on ICT and climate change in developing countries. Adekunle is the pioneer executive secretary of the African Society for Information and Communication Technology (ASICT) and the executive director, training and international scholar program at the International Center for Information Technology and Development (ICITD), Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, USA. Adekunle is a visiting professor of Computer Science at Kwararafa University, Wukari, Taraba State, Extraordinary Professor of ICT at Tshwane University, Pretoria, South Africa and a Reader at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti.
Adekunle is the founder of Interquilon Solutions, an Information Technology (IT) and Education consulting firm in Cincinnati, Ohio USA and an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) consultant with various governmental and private agencies. His extensive work experience spans over 25 years in IT consulting and practice and in higher education, medical research and banking. Adekunle serves on the board of Iba Microfinance Bank, Iba. Osun State Nigeria.
Adekunle is a chartered information technology practitioner (CITP) and member of the British Computer Society. He is also a member of Association for Information Systems (AIS), International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group 9.4 and the Information Resources Management Association (IRMA). Adekunle serves on the editorial board of The African Journal of Information Systems (AJIS) and Journal of Information and Communication Technology & Human Development (JICTHD). Adekunle is a frequent speaker to regional, national and international conferences and a major promoter of ICT conference in Africa. As an active member of International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), he served as a co-chair at the 3rd World IT Forum in Gaborone, Botswana. Adekunle chairs the annual International Conference for ICT in Africa.
His research focuses on ICT and climate change, knowledge management, new information and communication technologies, organizational implementation of IT and the resultant changes in organization, and IT & globalization. With about 50 academic publications, Dr. Okunoye has authored one book and his research on Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Organizations and in developing countries has appeared (or are forthcoming) in several peer reviewed journals, book chapters and in many national and international conference publications. Adekunle gave a keynote address to the 53rd Annual Delegates Meeting & Scientific Conference (ADM/SC) of the Nigerian Medical Association in 2013 and he has presented to the annual e-Nigeria conference of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Adekunle briefly ventured into partisan politics to address what he perceived as poor and under representation of his people at the Federal House of Representatives. He lost at the primaries but his involvement changed the outlook of the perception of people in his constituency in politics. Unlike many of his predecessors in similar situation, he remains in constant touch with his people, especially in his community. He lost in the primaries in January 2011 and he was selected to ascend the throne in August 2011. He has since then stopped all partisan politics and supports the policies and programs of the local and state government.
Adekunle lives with his family in Pleasant Run Farm, Cinicnnati Ohio. Adekunle is happily married to Princess Abidemi Tadese Okunoye, the last daughter of late Oba Ashiru Olatubosun Tadese, the immediate past Oluwo of Iwo Kingdom.
Adekunle has internationally traveled to / lived in: Australia, Benin Republic, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, England, Finland, The Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Kuwait, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, United States, and Zimbabwe.
