Phebean Ajibola Ogundipe, née Itayemi, OON (1927-2020) was a Nigerian author and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. Writing as Phebean Itayemi, she became the first Nigerian woman to be published in English, after winning a British Council short story competition. She later published textbooks under the name P. A. Ogundipe.Ransome Mgbeahuru
Ogundipe, author of Brighter Grammar goes home at 92
'' The Guardian'', 1 April 2020. Accessed 16 May 2020.

Life

Phebean Ogundipe was born in

Esa-Oke Esa-Oke is a Yoruba town located at the Obokun Local Government Area of the Ijesa North Federal Constituency of Ife/Ijesa Senatorial District of Osun State, South-West of Nigeria. It is a native Ijesa (Ijesha) community and shares boundaries wi ...

, Osun State on 6 May 1927 of Ijesha origin. She attended elementary school in Esa-oke and

Imesi-ile Imesi-ile is an ancient town in the northeastern part of the Obokun Local Government in Osun State, Nigeria. In the 19th century, this town was the epicenter of the Jalumi and the Kiriji wars among the Yoruba nations, and the foundation of peace ...

before going to

Queen's College, Lagos Queen's College, Lagos, is a government-owned girl's secondary (high) school with boarding facilities, situated in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Often referred to as the "sister college" of King's College, Lagos, it was founded on October 10, 1927, when ...

for secondary schooling. She gained a degree at the University of St Andrews, and a diploma from the Institute of Education at the University of London. Returning to Nigeria, she became an English teacher. Ogundipe story ''Nothing So Sweet'' won a 1946 British Council competition for the western region of Nigeria, coming ahead of the contributions of

T. M. Aluko Timothy Mofolorunso Aluko (14 July 1918 – 1 May 2010) was a Nigerian writer. Biography A Yoruba, Aluko was born in Ilesha in Nigeria and studied at Government College, Ibadan, and Higher College, Yaba in Lagos. He then studied civil enginee ...

and

Cyprian Ekwensi Chief Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi (26 September 1921 – 4 November 2007) was a Nigerian author of novels, short stories, and children's books. Biography Early life, education and family Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi, an Igbo, was born in ...

. The story portrays a teenage girl who endures abduction as part of an attempt to conclude an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

. At the end of the story the young woman achieves freedom, leaving her village at night to train as a nurse. Ogundipe met her husband, Adebayo Ogundipe, the younger brother of

Babafemi Ogundipe Babafemi Olatunde Ogundipe (6 September 1924 – 20 November 1971) was the ''de facto'' Vice President of Nigeria, second-in-command and first Supreme Military Council of Nigeria (1966–1979), Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters from 1966 Nige ...

, who later rose to become Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters between January and August 1966, while teaching with him at Queen's School, Ede. In 1960 she became an education officer in the Western Region, and became Principal of

Adeyemi College of Education The Adeyemi College of Education is a federal government higher education institution located in Ondo City, Ondo State, Nigeria. It is affiliated to Obafemi Awolowo University for its degree programmes. Adeyemi College of Education was named after ...

. Moving to the Federal Ministry of Education in 1966, she was promoted to senior education officer. She oversaw the integration of a federal universal primary education scheme with that of the Western State. She retired as assistant director of education in December 1976. In 2013 Ogundipe published a book of memoirs, ''Up-Country Girl''. She died on 27 March 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Works

* 'Nothing So Sweet', in T. Cullen Young, ed., ''New African Writing: Short stories by African authors'', London: Lutterworth Press, 1947. * (ed. with P. Gurrey) ''Folk Tales and Fables''. London: Penguin, 1953. * (with Una Maclean and

Molly Mahood Molly Maureen Mahood (17 June 1919 – 14 February 2017) was a British literary scholar, whose interests ranged from Shakespeare to postcolonial African literature. She taught at St Hugh's College, Oxford (1947–1954), the University of Ibadan ...

) 'Three Views of ''The Swamp Dwellers''', ''Ibadan'', Vol. 6 (June 1959), pp. 27–30 * ''Practical English: a comprehensive secondary course''. 1965. * (with Mabel Dove-Danquah) ''The Torn Veil, and Other Stories''. Evans Bros, 1975. * (with Margaret Macaulay and C. E. Eckersley) ''Brighter grammar : an English grammar with exercises''. Harlow: Longman, 1983. * ''New practical English''. 1985. * ''Up-Country Girl: A Personal Journey and Truthful Portrayal of African Culture''. AuthorHouse, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogundipe, Phebean 1927 births 2020 deaths Nigerian writers Nigerian educators Nigerian women educators Nigerian civil servants Alumni of the University of St Andrews Educators from Ondo State People from Osun State Queen's College, Lagos alumni Nigerian expatriates in the United States 20th-century Nigerian women writers Alumni of the UCL Institute of Education English-language writers from Nigeria Heads of schools in Nigeria Women heads of universities and colleges Nigerian schoolteachers 20th-century women civil servants History of women in Nigeria Nigerian memoirists 20th-century Nigerian educators 21st-century Nigerian women writers Women memoirists Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Adeyemi College of Education people Officers of the Order of the Niger