T. M. Aluko
Timothy Mofolorunso Aluko, born on June 14, 1918, in Ilesha, Nigeria, is a prominent figure known for his contributions to both engineering and literature. With a background in British-style education, Aluko pursued civil engineering, studying initially at the Government College in Ibadan and later at Yaba Higher College. His academic journey continued in London, where he specialized in urban planning and engineering, earning his degrees in the late 1940s. Upon returning to Nigeria, Aluko held significant engineering positions and served as the director of the Ministry of Works and Transport for Western Nigeria after the country gained independence.
Aluko's literary career began in 1959 with the publication of his first novel, "One Man, One Wife," marking a significant milestone as the first Nigerian novel published in English by a local company. Throughout the 1960s and beyond, he transitioned from technical roles to academia, becoming a senior lecturer and an associate professor while also engaging in political affairs as the state commissioner of finance. He published several novels, including "Chief, the Honourable Minister" and "His Worshipful Majesty," alongside his autobiography, "My Years of Service." Despite his notable literary achievements, Aluko often regarded his writing as a secondary pursuit to his engineering career, which has led to discussions about the influence of British colonialism on his work.
On this Page
Subject Terms
T. M. Aluko
- Born: June 14, 1918
- Birthplace: Ilesha, Nigeria
- Died: May 1, 2010
- Place of death: Lagos, Nigeria
Biography
Timothy Mofolorunso Aluko was born on June 14, 1918, in Ilesha, in western Nigeria. Aluko’s British-style education prepared him for a career in engineering, which allowed for luxuries that most of his native Nigerian peers did not typically enjoy. At fifteen years of age, Aluko attended the newly established Government College in Ibadan, Nigeria, and remained there until 1938. In 1939 he went on to study at Nigeria’s most advanced educational institution, the Yaba Higher College, where he was trained as a civil engineer until 1942.
During the early part of the 1940’s, Aluko served as a junior engineer for the Public Works Department. However, at the end of World War II, he went to London to study advanced urban planning and engineering at London University, where he received his B.S. degree in 1948 and a certificate in town planning in 1950. Moreover, at this time, Aluko married Janet Adebisi Fajemisin; their marriage produced six children.
After his return to his native Nigeria, Aluko served as a district engineer and as town engineer; after 1956, he concurrently held both positions. In 1960, he was appointed by the newly independent Nigerian government as the director and permanent secretary of the Ministry of Works and Transport for Western Nigeria. During this time, at the onset of Nigeria’s independence from British colonial rule, Aluko’s writing career became public. Aluko’s first novel, One Man, One Wife was published in 1959 and was the first Nigerian novel to be published in English by a Nigerian company.
Remarkably, he retained his senior technical positions through Nigeria’s state of civil and political unrest in the 1960’s. It was not until 1966 that Aluko’s career in technical aspects of public service shifted to the Nigerian intellectual and political sphere. In 1966 he took a teaching position at the University of Ibadan as senior lecturer and was a senior research fellow of municipal engineering from 1966 to 1978 and an associate professor of public health engineering in 1978 at the University of Lagos. Aluko returned to England to complete his education; he obtained his M.S. in 1969 from the University of Newcastle. In addition to these academic positions, Aluko was appointed as the state commissioner of finance for Western Nigeria from 1971 until 1973. During his brief academic and political career, Aluko published several more novels, including Chief, the Honourable Minister in 1970 and His Worshipful Majesty in 1973. Finally, Aluko completed his formal education at Nigeria’s University of Lagos, earning his doctorate in 1976.
In 1979, Aluko’s public service officially ended when he became a partner in a private firm of consulting engineers. Nevertheless, Aluko continued to write, publishing three more novels and an autobiography entitled My Years of Service in 1994. Aluko always considered his novels and short stories as a product of a hobby and subservient to his professional career. As a result of this feeling and because of his British education, Aluko’s development as a novelist is often downplayed as only a product of British imperialism.