Biography of Chief Olusola Oke
OLUSOLA ALEXANDER OKE
PERSONAL DETAILS
BORN: ONDO STATE, NIGERIA
POLITICAL PARTY: ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY (AD)
PROFESSION: LAWYER AND POLITICIAN
Olusola Alexander Oke is a
lawyer and politician. Oke was born on 7 April 1956 in Ilowo, a coastal town in
Ilaje Local government Area of Ondo State. His father was from Ilaje and his
mother hailed from Imoru town in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo state. he
attended UNA Primary School, Ode-Ilowo between 1961-1963. At age 7, he dropped
out of school in 1963 and became a professional fisherman who lived and earned
his living from the creek of the rivers in Ilaje and its environs. He wrestled
with the wicked conspiracy of poverty and social deprivation that almost
prevented him from being educated. Between 1963 and 1973, he engaged in
subsistence high sea fishing, a career in which he acquired great fame.
His quest for knowledge
compelled him to abandon fishing to the amazement of his fishermen colleagues
and returned to Methodist Primary School, Ilepete in 1973 to complete his
primary school education. He later proceeded to Methodist Secondary Modern
School, Ilepete where he graduated in 1976. He attended Ilaje Grammar School,
Atijere in Ilaje Local Government where he bagged his WASC in 1980. Oke taught
briefly as auxiliary Teacher at Happy City College Ayetero, Ilaje Local
Government and Methodist High School, Okitipupa.
In October 1981, he was
admitted to Ondo State School of Arts and Science, Ikare where he was, when the
prestigious University of Ife offered him admission in 1982 to study law. He
attended the prestigious University of Ife, a citadel for intellectual giants
established within the vortex of Yoruba origin by the evergreen sage, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo and other leaders of the emerging post-colonial south-western
Nigeria. He bagged a degree in Law from the renowned Great Ife in 1986 from
where he proceeded to the Nigerian Law School and was called to the Nigerian
bar in 1987.
LEGAL PRACTICE
He joined Olufemi Lanlehin
and Co., a law firm in Ikeja, Lagos in 1987 from there, he moved to Okitipupa
to establish Olusola Oke and Associates on the 14th of July, 1988. His resolve
to commence his law practice early enough was encouraged by his easy grasp of
routines and outstanding delivery in all the matters he participated in. He had
always seen law as an embodiment of the moral values, sentiments and
dispositions of the people and therefore, he had long resolved to employ it as
an instrument of societal re-engineering in line with the tenets of Roscoe
Pound; And to earn his living from it too. He took that decision with a firm
faith in God.
In 1996, he became the
Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Okitipupa Branch. Between 1997 and
year 2000, he was the chairman of NBA, Okitipupa Branch. Also, between 1997 and
year 2000, he was a member of the National Executive Committee of NBA. His
professional practice provided the platform that earned him the opportunity to
blossom in politics and to join others in liberating his people. Today, his law
firm has its headquarters in Abuja. He has been listed for the prestigious
title of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, three times and in all the three
instances, he made it to the final listing.
As the National Legal
Adviser of the PDP, between 2008 and 2012, he practiced law to its fullest and
paved a way for equity and constitutionality to prevail unhindered in all the
matters he handled.
POLITICS
He was a popular youth
activist in the ranks of Ilaje Patriotic Front (IPF), a frontline youth
pressure group in the late 80's. The desire of the IPF was for Ilaje people to
get to the promised land. They employed their intellectual prowess, provided
leadership and ignited the thirst for development in the people. Through
purposeful plans, commitment and loyalty to the course of the people, they made
a mark and created legendary marks in our land. The group later metamorphosed
into a political group. The group, in recognition of his stoic contributions
insisted on him going into politics. In spite of the pressure of the group on
him to join active politics, he stayed the course of his law practice until
1991 when he was made Local Government Legal Adviser of the Social Democratic
Party, SDP. From 1991 to 1992, he was a member of Board of Internal Revenue in
Ondo State. Since then, he has combined politics with his legal practice
without necessarily leaving one for the other. He was elected a member, Federal
House of Representatives representing Ilaje/Ese-odo federal constituency in
1992. By year 2000, he was appointed into the pioneer board of the Niger Delta
Development Commission, NDDC. At NDDC, his team executed and completed over two
hundred and fifty projects. What he did on the board of NDDC and the experience
garnered facilitated his appointment as the Executive Chairman of the Ondo
State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), another
intervention agency, in 2004.
In 2005, he was nominated
and served in the National Political Reform Conference and in 2007, he served
as a member of the Presidential Technical Committee on Niger Delta. He was
appointed the Chairman of the Federal Polytechnic Bida in 2009 and also
appointed Chairman, National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency between
2009 and 2011.
He was a governorship
candidate in Ondo state in the 2012 gubernatorial election. In the televised
debate before the election, Olusola Oke was adjudged winner by a vast majority
of the viewers. According to popular youth activist, Olatunji Ariyo, in the
second debate which featured only the three leading candidates, Olusola Oke
appeared to be the indisputable winner. He exhibited candour, depth and came
out smoking hot. The incumbent governor however did well in holding his ground
while Akeredolu of the ACN improved upon his earlier performance. The debate
was also richer on issues although the candidates could not escape the
temptation of typecasting one another as they laboured hard to adorn opponents
with the corrupt tag which was an avoidable distraction.
Olusola Oke was a top
contender for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the state
Governorship election coming up in November 2016. He decamped to the Alliance
for Democracy (AD) after the APC primaries.
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