Akinpelu Obisesan (1889–1963) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

diarist A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

, businessman and politician. He was among a class of educated elites in the early twentieth century who kept private records of their activities and who were also speakers at formal events. Many of them later published their presentations in newspapers, as this was sometimes seen as a passage into intellectual status in the western Nigerian milieu.Toyin Falola, Adebayo Oyebade. ''The Foundations of Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Toyin Falola''. Africa World Press, 2003, p. 289. . Akinpelu's records from 1920 to 1960 became an important source for elite activities during the colonial era and is used by a few scholars on predefined topics varying from cultural, political and

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

and western Nigeria. Included in his diaries were stories about Salami Agbaje, one of the wealthiest Ibadan citizens of his time, and socio-political matters of the era. Agbaje was the first individual to own a two-story house built from cement and the first to own a car in Ibadan. In late 1949, Agbaje was charged for selfishness by community leaders, who challenged his hoarding of wealth.Falola and Oyebode p. 294. Akinpelu and other elites also engaged in discussions and wrote about major events of the era, topics on the Lagos elites and defence of his family's land interests were major issues written and discussed about.

Early life

Obisesan was born in Ibadan to the family of an elephant

hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

: Aperin Obisesan and a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

woman. His father was one of the early defenders of Ibadan against the Ijebu incursions of the late nineteenth century. He was rewarded with a chieftaincy title for his effort in defending Ibadan. Karin Barber. ''Africa's Hidden Histories: Everyday Literacy and Making the Self''. Indiana University Press, 2006, p. 56. He also acquired a vast forest during the period. Obisesan attended various schools managed by the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

. The missionary school teachers were educated and frequently wrote about their activities in journals. One of the missionaries was Daniel Olubi, an early Christian convert who was Obisesan's teacher in 1896, the first year of his formal education.Karin Barber p. 56. Olubi was a mentor to Obisesan and guided him in his studies. Obisesan's impetus to keep a journal could have been established while attending the missionary schools. After completing his studies, he started work at the office of the British resident in Ibadan, but later moved to

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

to work with the railway authority. In 1913, he returned to Ibadan and a year later, he was appointed as the caretaker and secretary of his family's land holdings. His father had used his vast forest to farm and transformed it into a productive

Cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

growing field. However, the ownership of the land was disputed, as other citizens laid claims to the land. In 1914, he bought in first diary, speculatively, he may have used his diary as a means to record events on the family's farm business or for record keeping.

Career

Before and after becoming the secretary of his family's farm interests, Obisesan Akinpelu was a

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

clerk and produce buyer. While in Ibadan, he supplemented his income by working for the Paterson Zochonis group. He later became a produce buyer of Cocoa. For a span of 30 years, he was president of the Ibadan Cooperative Produce Marketing Society. As leader of the cooperative produce society, he was an important voice against foul tactics used by

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

middlemen and Cocoa exporters. He also became the pioneer chairman of the Cooperative Bank of Ibadan. A bank created to serve the needs of

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

societies in the region.

Record keeping

Obisesan was educated in an environment were

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

skills was seen as a sign of intellectual fineness and with most

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

situated in Lagos and Abeokuta, the school age residents of the two cities had a fast start in literacy and honing their writing skills. He also believed

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

could be a ticket to acquire wealth and without education, Ibadan may be left behind. He desired writing as a way to educate himself and record keeping was a productive way of keeping himself abreast of developments in his business. In his diaries, fingerprints of his emulation of status men and being enthralled with wealth at an early age could be seen. At an early age, he dreamt about having a fecund future, however, the reality of his poor financial position was always something he moaned and wrote about early on. During his early years when he was suffering from financial deprivation, Akinpelu wrote in his diary, In 1920, when he started writing assiduously, it was a means of

self-education Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

and

self-development Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

. Contents in his diary revealed different information about the social personalities and events of the era, it also revealed personal details of his life. Though, he had written in 1930 that he was fatigued as a result of numerous intercourse with his wives.,Falola and Oyebode p. 287. in 1955, he married his final wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obisesan, Akinpelu 1889 births Yoruba businesspeople Businesspeople from Ibadan Nigerian activists Nigerian diarists 1963 deaths 20th-century Nigerian businesspeople 19th-century Nigerian people Nigerian landowners Members of the Legislative Council of Nigeria People of colonial Nigeria