Olaokun Soyinka was born in Ibadan, Oyo State on November 11th, 1958 to the Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka of Isara Remo, Remo North Local Government Area in Ogun State, and first wife of British origin, Barbara Dixon.
Olaokun Soyinka is 66 years old.
The first of Wole Soyinka's twelve children, Olalokun had his early years in Ibadan and attended Government College, Ibadan. From there he proceeded to the U.K where he trained as a medical doctor at the University of London (St Thomas's Hospital Medical School) and graduated in 1982. He also obtained an MBA from Cranfied School of Management in 1986.
Olalokun had a stint with professional practice in London before returning to Nigeria. He practised as a physician in the UK before founding and publishing the British Journal of Cardiology. He was an active member of the Nigerian prodemocracy movement and General Secretary of National Liberation Council of Nigeria (NALICON).
Compared to his father's towering status in literature and social activism, his doctor son is a distant pretender to fame. Since his return to Nigeria, he has pursued a career in Public Health. After a period of consultancy for the UN and CIDA, he spent three years at the WHO country office as the Health Promotion Officer. He was subsequently appointed as Commissioner for Health, Ogun State. While serving as Commissioner, he spearheaded the implementation of the Ogun State Community-based Health Insurance Scheme called Araya. He currently works with an NGO on primary health care research based in Abuja.
Olalokun once joked of how he was mistaken for an impostor in London when he introduced himself as the son of the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, and it was only his nose that made the foreigner to believe a little that he had anything in common with his father. He is married to poet and novelist, Titilola Atinuke Alexandrah Shoneyin, and they have four children (2 boys and 2 girls). He plays Golf, guitar and has a black belt in Karate.
His net worth is not available.
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