Akinpelu Obisesan

Who was Akinpelu Obisesan?

Akinpelu Obisesan was a Nigerian diarist, businessman and politician. He was among a class of educated elites in the early twentieth century who kept private records of their activities and who were also speakers at formal events. Many of them later published their presentations in newspapers, as this was sometimes seen as a passage into intellectual status in the western Nigerian milieu. Akinpelu's records from 1920 to 1960 became an important source for elite activities during the colonial era and is used by a few scholars on predefined topics varying from cultural, political and social history of Ibadan and western Nigeria.

Included in his diaries were stories about Salami Agbaje, one of the wealthiest Ibadan citizens of his time, and socio-political matters of the era. Agbaje was the first individual to own a two-story house built from cement and the first to own a car in Ibadan. In late 1949, Agbaje was charged for selfishness by community leaders, who challenged his hoarding of wealth. Akinpelu and other elites also engaged in discussions and wrote about major events of the era, topics on the Lagos elites and defense of his family's land interests were major issues written and discussed about.