Footprints and Footnotes An Autobiography of Ladipo Akinkugbe

At 77, Emeritus Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe chronicled his footprints in nine fascinating chapters spanning his first five decades and in a formidable cluster of nine 'Connecting Dots' - an event-studded aftermath. He ends with an 'Update', a 'Family Portrait' and a few 'Named Lectures' illustrating Branding Time, Mapping the Menace of Corruption and The Wages of Curiosity.Akinkugbe's main turf was education and health, and he punctuates his rich harvest of experience with gripping anecdotes. He tells his story with unusual clarity and candour, and there cannot be many personal accounts that reflect achievements and challenges in such refined and graceful style. His narrative demonstrates the essence of a true biography, shorn of the usual self-adulation. Yet in it, there is a lesson for every age, a common thread that runs through life's yarn - undaunted, seizing the moment, positive thinking, mentoring, focus and sustained application.The author used his opportunities of service in various capacities in public life, and in the corridors of power to address seminal and critical issues in health and higher education and influenced them in a positive manner.The racy and engaging rendering of Akinkugbe's story attests to his facility of language and a robust intellect that combined sustained scholarship with disarming modesty. A compelling read.