Birthdays
GOWON, General Yakubu ( rtd), soldier, administrator, political scientist and former military leader, will be 86 on October 19, 2020. He was born in Gram Panshin Local Council Area of Plateau State on October 19, 1934 and was educated at St. Bartholomew School ( CMS), Wusasa, Zaria, 193949; Government College ( now Barewa College), Zaria, 1950- 53; Officer Cadet Training School, Chester, England, 1955; Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England, 1957; former Head of State and Commanderin- Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces; Founder, Yakubu Gowon Centre for Development Studies, Jos; Coordinator, Nigeria Prays; Director and Chairman of various companies; conferred with the National Honour of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1966. He holds the traditional title of Aare of Ajagunla of Ife, Osun State.
ADEBUTU, Sir Kesington Adebukunola Adebutu CON, KJW, FISM will be 85 on October 24, 2020. He was born to the late Alhaji Karimu Folarin Adebutu aka “Owo- Iya” and late Alhaja Seliat Olasimbo Adebutu of Iperu Remo, Ikenne Local Council Area of Ogun State on October 24, 1935. Adebutu attended the Wesley Primary School, Iperu Remo and Ijero Baptist School, Apapa Road, EbuteMetta, Lagos, where he completed his primary education in 1950.
He was admitted into Baptist Academy, Lagos for his secondary education in January 1951, which he completed at the famous Remo Secondary School ( RSS) Sagamu Remo, Ogun State
in 1955, topping his class in the school leaving certificate examination. Because of the feat, he was offered a scholarship to train as a teacher, but he rejected the offer in order for him to stay back at home and continue his education as a student. He attended several leadership and management development courses, seminars and programmes both in Nigeria and abroad. Adebutu worked with Cable and Wireless Limited, ( which later transformed into NITEL), as an operations clerk in 1956. He then joined Claffin Chemicals Ltd as a salesman, and rose to the position of The Regional Sales Manager for Lagos and the old Midwestern State. He is currently the chairman of Premier Lotto limited and the founder of Keshington Adebukunola Adebutu Foundation ( KAAF). He is also known as Baba Ijebu.
UDUAGHAN, Emmanuel, politician and former Governor of Delta State will be 66 on October 22, 2020. He was born on October 22, 1954 at Abigborodo in Warri North Local Council Area of Delta State and started his education at the Baptist Primary School, Mosogar between 1961 and 1966. He proceeded to the Federal Government College, Warri for his secondary education, 1968- 74. He later moved to the University of Benin where he studied Medicine and Surgery ( MBBS) between 1975 and 1980; he went back to University of Benin in 1985 for a year Diploma in Anesthesia, which he obtained in 1986. He was honoured as the most outstanding Corps Doctor in Kwara State during his National Youth Service in 1982. He won the Delta Steel Company ( DSC), Medical Centre General Manager’s prize for outstanding service, Aladja, Delta State, where he took up a job, after which he went to private practice, setting up Abode Clinic in Warri, Delta State after stints in many hospitals. In 1999, he was appointed the Commissioner of Health, Delta State. In 2003, he became Secretary to the Delta State government. In 2007, he contested for the governorship seat in the state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) and won. He was re- elected in the April 2011 general election for his second term in office. On August 29, 2018, he officially left PDP for the All Progressives Congress ( APC), but on September 28, 2020, he returned to the PDP.
JONATHAN, Dame Patience Faka ( née Oba), former first lady, will be 63 on October 25, 2020. Born on October 25, 1957, the former first lady served as a Permanent Secretary in her native Bayelsa State.
Born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, she earned her school certificate in 1976, and passed the West African School Certificate Examination ( WASCE) in 1980. In 1989, she obtained the National Certificate of Education ( NCE) in Mathematics and Biology from the Rivers State College of Arts Science, Port Harcourt.
She then proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt and studied for a
B. Ed in Biology and Psychology. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Port Harcourt.
She started her career as a teacher at the Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt and at the Sports Institute, Isaka. She then moved to the banking sector in 1997. She served as a marketing manager of Imiete Community Bank, after which she established the first community bank in Port Harcourt called the Akpo Community Bank.
She returned to the classroom briefly again as a teacher. Eventually she was transferred to the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, where she served until May 29, 1999, when her husband became the deputy governor of the state.
On July 12, 2012, she was appointed Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State by Henry Seriake Dickson. The appointment was unique considering she had been on leave from the civil service for over 13 years, since her husband became deputy governor in 1999.