Kayode was born in 1944 at Otoporu, near Okitipupa to a devout Christian family of Late Pa Joshua and Mrs. Esther Adetugbo, he was the last of seven children.
He had his early education at Saint Paul’s Primary School, Otoporu, and completed his primary education at Christ’s School Primary School, Ogbonkowo Ondo. He was an exceptionally brilliant child, the revered Canon Mason, the principal of Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti wanted him to attend the school at the time, but he got a scholarship to attend the prestigious Government College Ibadan in which he enrolled in 1954 with a school number of 854. He was a keen sportsman in addition to excellent academic performance and had one of the best results at his graduation in 1960.
He proceeded to the University of Chicago and completed his BSc. He then went on to the Pritzker Medical School at the University of Chicago where he graduated Summa cum laude. After completing his medical degree, he completed his residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York.
Given his interest in molecular biology, he then went on to the University of Cambridge to work on his PhD, which he completed in 1975. It must be said at this juncture that his academic achievements continued to soar. C. Milstein and G. Kohler, who were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1984 for their seminal work in molecular biology, worked alongside Kayode at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge in the mid-1970s. Kayode was a co-author in several of their publications.
Kayode was approached in Cambridge by the University of Ife in 1972, but he did not physically join until 1976 when he returned to Nigeria, mostly at the behest of his siblings, and his loving mother. He was immediately appointed a senior lecturer. He was made a Professor in 1979. Kayode taught Immunology for several years at the University of Ife. He also served in several administrative positions including head of the department of Chemical Pathology and head of the department of Haematology and Immunology, for which he was the pioneer head of department. He was appointed to the position of Provost, College of Health Sciences between 1991 to 1995.
Kayode was a dedicated member of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), a Nigerian union of university academic staff, which he led from 1983 to 1986.
He was an astute teacher and his students at the University of Ife famously called him ‘rastaman’. His classes were usually packed for his famous wise cracks and deep insight into the subject matter. He was an excellent researcher, social activist and administrator.
He married Anita Adesimi Davies whilst still at Ife and the union is blessed with two beautiful daughters Alero and Eyitemi Adetugbo.
His hobbies were fishing, usually in the company of his best friend Late Professor Femi Soyinka. They were both keen anglers always around the Opa dam competing to land the heaviest catch. He also was a committed sportsman and he played lawn tennis and squash regularly. He was also the Ayo champion at the staff club. He was an active member of the staff club and was the chairman around 1982.
Kayode was a keen lover of music, particularly classical music. He took his music seriously and equipped himself with cutting edge musical systems of the time and had an impressive LP record collection. He was an avid photographer.
He retired from the services of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife in 1997. He moved back to the UK in 1997 after getting caught in the civil war during a sabbatical stint as a visiting professor at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
In the UK, given his love for research, evidence based medicine, and epidemiology, he was the first coordinator of the Cochrane skin group based at the University of Nottingham from 1998 to 2000. He then took up the position of head of Public Health Policy at Havering Primary Care (NHS) Trust in London until his retirement in 2010.
Kayode Adetugbo had several passions during his retirement. He kept abreast of technology advancements, particularly in computer systems and medicine. He was a social activist till the end, tracking political and social events in Nigeria and globally.
He will be greatly missed!
