Sinatu Ojikutu Becomes a Septuagenarian
For Alhaja Sinatu Aderoju Ojikutu, this is the time to give thanks. The reason is not far- fetched - God has seen her through the past seven decades. Last Friday, Ojikutu, a former Lagos State deputy governor, clocked 70. It was a thanksgiving moment for her and her household. But rather than throw a lavish birthday party, as many had expected, she immersed herself in spiritual activities using the period to thank God for His blessings and mercy.
Though the former Lagos State former deputy governor has been through a lot both in her political and business life, she has always come out triumphant. Even when traducers ganged up to tarnish her hard earned reputation and abridge her political profile, she came out unblemished with her head high up all the time. She cut her teeth in politics when she became the first female Vice- President of University of Lagos Students’ Union. It was revealed that she was inspired by her father , late Barrister Shitu Adewuyi Adeoba, who was a member of parliament in the Western House of Assembly in the First Republic. She later became the first elected deputy governor in Nigeria in the aborted Third Republic under the defunct National Republican Convention ( NRC), when Sir Michael Otedola ruled as governor of Lagos State. Before her foray into active politics, Ojikutu had served Lagos State meritoriously. She was controller of Estate and later Secretary for Budget and Finance. She also worked in the banking sector as Executive Director, Operations, Nigeria Bank of Commerce and Industry. Under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, she served as federal commissioner representing Lagos in the Federal Character Commission ( FCC). At the beginning of the present democratic dispensation, she was the Deputy National Chairman of the defunct United Nigeria People’s Party ( UNPP). The former deputy governor had her early education at Ereko Methodist School Lagos Island, Our Lady of Apostles Girls Secondary School, Ijebu Ode, and Ilesa Grammar School. She had her tertiary education at the University of Lagos, and Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York where she earned her B. SC and MBA degrees respectively.