At 80, an ex-banker, Mr Johnson Adeniji, shares with TEMITOPE ADETUNJI insights into his childhood, banking career, family life, and the values that shaped his journey
Could you share your early life and background?
I was born on April 9, 1946, about three months after the death of my father. My father died on December 18, 1945, before I was born, so I never had the opportunity to know him personally. I came from a humble background and was raised in a village called Akinale, about 15 miles from the Abeokuta-Lagos Road.
I am the first son in a great family of warriors from the Owu Kingdom of Abeokuta. My father was a learned man who hailed from Akiode but later settled in Abalabi due to famine, as farming was the people’s major occupation at the time. My mother, on the other hand, was a hardworking and industrious trader. She owned a large market space in Ojo and traded extensively in Badagry and Ikorodu.
Growing up was not easy. Before my father passed away, he left his three wives pregnant, and I happened to be the first child delivered as well as the first son in the family. After I was weaned, my mother left me in the care of my great-grandmother for some time so she could continue working hard to provide for my survival and upbringing.
