Kunle Adelabu
Staff and students of Odogunyan Junior Grammar School, Odogunyan, lkorodu, were on Monday (yesterday) thrown into mourning following the sudden death of their Principal, Mr Ogunshola Tolulope O.
Ogunsola, who until his death was a Director in the Ministry of Education, Lagos State, hailed from Lagelu in Ibadan, Oyo State. He was an excellent Biology teacher before his administrative duty as a Principal.
THE IMPACT gathered that news of his death was broken from Ibadan to senior staff of the school late Sunday, March 7, 2021.
THE IMPACT also gathered that the deceased was an accommodating and astute principal who had been a source of encouragement to both staff and students of Odogunyan Junior Grammar School who have been forced to take shelter in Zumratul Islamiyah Primary School, Odogunyan, following the directive of the government to rebuild the dilapidated structures in their school.
THE IMPACT further gathered that the late dutiful administrator, who had been contending with an unconducive work environment, was last seen in school on Thursday, February 25, 2021 .
Sources at the school told our reporter that he left school that day after telling them that, “I think I need to go home to rest. I don’t understand how I’m feeling”.
He was said to have been hail and healthy before that Thursday.
However, the following day, it was gathered that he called the school that he was too weak to get out of the bed and directed his Vice Principal and the school’s year tutor to take good care of the School.
“And by Monday (March 1), we were told that he was already in Ibadan with his elder Brother. All efforts to reach him proved abortive until we heard of his demise on Sunday night (March 7)”, the source added.
Mr Ogunshola joined Odogunyan Junior Grammar School in 2018. Before then, he had served at the Government College, Ikorodu, and Lagos State Senior Model College, Igbokuta.
The late Principal, THE IMPACT gathered, was supposed to be due for retirement next year November 26.
He attended Lagelu Grammar School, Oremeji, Agugu, Ibadan, and studied Zoology at the University of Ado Ekiti. He later bagged his Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Many teachers and staff of the school described late Ogunshola as a very good man, pleasant, jovial, accommodating, generous and very understanding.
He was said to be a Principal whom any visitor, apart from staff of the school, could not easily identify as boss in any gathering because of how he relate with his staff.
He was also described as a highly intelligent, active and efficient educationist with an amazing grasp of his subject area .
Late Ogunshola was also said to be a passionate professional who had penchant for propriety and played strictly by the rules.
