President Goodluck Jonathan had made a promise to attend the 100th birthday of Oba (Dr.) Samuel Odulana Odugade, the monarch of Ibadan, capital of Oyo state.

But on Monday, when the thanksgiving service held at The Cathedral of St. Peter Aremo, President Jonathan was conspicuously absent. Not his fault anyway, as early on the day, terrorists of the Boko Haram sect had exploded two bombs at Nyanya bus park in Abuja, killing over 70 people. A grieving Jonathan shelved the Ibadan trip, but was ably represented by information minister, Labaran Maku.

However to keep his promise, Jonathan came to Ibadan on Tuesday to share in the celebration of the monarch, helping the old man cut his birthday cake.

Born at Igbo-Elerin in Lagelu Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oba Odugade was crowned the Olubadan on August 17, 2007. He started his educational career at Saint Andrew’s School, Bamigbola, in January 1922 and later obtained a transfer to Saint Peter’s School, Aremo in 1929. He completed his middle school education at Mapo Central School in 1936.

Afterward, he furthered his education through correspondence college.

Briefly, he worked at the United African Company (UAC) as a produce clerk, before taking up teaching job at the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Elementary School, Jago, Ibadan in 1938. He equally taught in several schools from 1939 to 1942. He worked as a civil servant but later went into politics during the 1959 pre-Independence Federal Elections and became a member of the House of Representatives. Later, he was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, in the country’s first independent cabinet. He attended the Commonwealth Conference in London in 1963 and also became the country’s Minister of State for Labour. In 1964, he led the Nigerian parliamentary delegation to the London Constitutional Conference to restructure the then British colonies of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, now known as Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia.