Professor Ayodele Babatunde Omotoso at 70: Celebrating an Academic Icon

It is not often that one has the privilege to pen a Tribute to one that I can describe as a man of many parts — a man who, through sheer dint of hard work, has reached the pinnacle of his academic and professional career, touched lives in many ways, and earned a reputation as one of the country’s best known cardiologists.

It is not everyday that one would have the opportunity, as I have now, to celebrate a man who rose from obscurity, conquered the odds that usually beset a lot of promising young minds-especially in the less technologically driven era of the 70’s-to write his name in gold as a medical giant of no mean repute.

The life and times of Professor Ayodele Babatunde Omotoso up till his 70th year which we celebrate today, can be summed up as a book with many chapters, each intricately linked, yet with diverse and varied stories that teach focus, discipline, hard work, ambition, dedication and enterprise.

Anyone who knew the ‘Prof,’ as we all fondly call him, and his astounding brilliance and consummate application of same to his academic pursuits, would wager a bet that he would end up exactly as he is doing today.

Professor Omotoso’s teenage years were molded at the great Doherty Memorial Grammar School (DMGS) Ijero-Ekiti, which incidentally also celebrates its 70th year anniversary and founder’s day in only a few days, specifically on 7th February, 2025. It is also interesting to note that the ‘Prof’ currently leads the school’s Old Students Association Board of Trustees as Chairman!

The ‘Prof’ was easily one of the most celebrated students of the 1972 Set in DMGS with exploits of academic conquests and recognitions that belied his young age, even going on to become the school’s Library Prefect in that academic year. In those days, only the most brilliant students got the nod to be so exalted!

Easily, or so it seemed, young Ayodele Babatunde Omotoso came out of Doherty with a Grade 1 in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) as a fitting icing on the cake of a most outstanding secondary school journey. If anyone was surprised by that record, it might have been those who scarcely knew him!

Well, like a phoenix would, he proceeded to achieve bigger and better academic laurels, earning a degree in Medicine from the famous UI – the University of Ibadan – and going on to specialise in Cardiology. To say that the ‘Prof’ has excelled in this field of medicine is an understatement.

I will not like to bore you with the heights he has attained in his unique calling or the positions he has held in over four decades of advancing the cause of cardiology and human heart health, including a seven-year stint as President of the Nigeria Hypertension Society. But suffice it to say he has acquitted himself quite well, imparting knowledge, writing books to serve as reference materials for now and the future, heading several medical bodies and generally working on new theories that have added more value to the practice of cardiology in Nigeria, and the world in the course of which he received many academic and professional awards both nationally and internationally.

During his inaugural lecture at the University of Ilorin just last week, the Ijurin-Ekiti born icon gave an in-depth lecture on the topic, ‘Of the Heart, For the Heart, and From The Heart: Communicating The Incommunicables Heartily. The ovation and applause his rendition at the event elicited not only served to re-echo the oft-repeated claims of the ‘Prof’s versatility, it also cemented his place in the pantheon of great physicians in cardiovascular health, that the country has ever known.

At 70, an age when the bells of age begin to toll and grey clouds of memory sets in, I think it is the most auspicious moment to salute our ‘Prof’ for all that he has done through his selfless service to humanity especially at the DMGS-OSA where, as Chair of the Stakeholders Forum, he midwived our current Constitution and ExCo.

The true essence of the erudite Professor is captured in the words of Muhammad Ali, the legendary but now deceased former world heavyweight boxing champion who once said, ” Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

Professor Omotoso conquered his circumstances, achieved his most sought after dreams, and served humanity. We celebrate him. We honour him. We say, ‘Prof’ thanks for all the years of dedicated toil and service to the Doherty Memorial Grammar School Old Students Association.

As we pray God to give you more years still to function, to heal and to give more joy to more lives, we enjoin you not to relent in doing the very things that have taken you this far.

For us at the DMGS Old Students Association, we look forward to benefitting more from your experience and intellect in years ahead as you become more available to contribute to the fortunes, growth, and progress of our dear alma mater.

Happy birthday, Prof. and may God bless you richly.

Biodun Arokodare, PhD, FCA (1976)
President
DMGS-OSA