Adelusi-Adeluyi at 80

Editorial

Doyen of pharmacy and Rotary International in Nigeria, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, clocked 80 on Sunday, August 2, but his robust looks and regal strides belie that age. He looks as strong and agile as a 60-year-old can be. He is ageing quite gracefully.

Always resplendent in his all-white apparels, Adelusi-Adeluyi exudes a calm mien that enchants. His life radiates a glaring inner contentment, a peaceful life that reads like a stream at dawn.

“Well”, he told a national daily recently about his calm comportment, “when God gives you contentment, the rest is easy. I mean, in every situation, count your blessings and believe there is no cause for alarm.”

The path of this prince of Ado-Ekiti royal family, in his four score years on earth, has been laced with noiseless accomplishments that speak loud in excellence. He has a larger-than-size image as one of the most accomplished professionals of his time. A strong advocate of high ethical standards in business and the professions, he parades a track record of untainted integrity and has been a role model to a lot of people.

Born on August 2, 1940 in Ado- Ekiti, Ekiti State, Adelusi-Adeluyi had set out quite early for a life of excellence, a consuming passion that has always driven his professional forays. He had finished high school in flying colours in Akure, Ondo State, a year ahead of his pears.

He proceeded to the University of Ife(now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, as one of the pioneer students of Pharmacy. He took active interest in campus politics, through which he hugged the global klieg lights quite early. Along the line, he was elected Vice President of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS) in charge of international affairs in 1964. His sterling performance  in that position gave him out as an outstanding administrator. It was, therefore, not surprising that at the conference of the World Student Movement in New Zealand, he was elected as the secretary for ‘Africa of the student body in 1965, the same year he graduated.   So he had to move to Holland a day after writing his final pharmacy exams to assume  that position.

He was later elected as the Secretary General of the world student body  for three years. He also distinguished himself in that exalted seat as he organised student bodies in countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. . He led a 17- nation delegation of international students to many countries in Africa, including Nigeria during the civil war.

After his tenure in Holland, Adelusi-Adeluyi came back home in 1968 and established his pharmacy business, Juli Pharmacy(now Juli Plc) in 1970 when he was 30 years old. And by dint of grit, hard work and business acumen, the company became the first indigenously promoted firm to be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1986. He ventured into two ‘parallel’ professional callings—Pharmacy and Law— and made a huge success of both. He shocked many when he enrolled for full-time Law degree programme at the University of Lagos because he was already an accomplished pharmacist at the time. He chose to live on campus among the students, who were always excited to see him in their midst. He graduated in 1986 and finished in Law School the following year as the overall best student.

While the pharmacy business was still running, he began to practise Law. He has for 30 years been in pro bono legal practice, specialising in offering free legal aid to prisoners and other scums of society, as part of the philanthropic activities that have now embossed his name in gold.He remains the first and only pharmacist to have been appointed the Minister of Health, a portfolio which medical doctors have always believed arguably is their preserve.

Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi reminisced  about the pharmacy business side recently: “By the time I was getting quoted on the stock exchange, I had already established 22 branches of my business in the 80s. No other person had more than two or three branches then, but I had 22. So, it is a question of determination and the grace of God.” His philanthropy has been more pronounced on the platform of Rotary International. He joined Rotary Club of Ikeja in 1969 and became president of the club in 1977/78. He was elected district governor-elect of District 210, which covered West Africa.

But in 1982, Nigeria was carved out of 210 as a new distinct district named District 911. And Adelusi-Adeluyi became the first governor of the new district. He used the position to lay a solid foundation for the growth of Rotary Club in Nigeria. This global phenomenon is the current chairman of the board of MTN Foundation. He is also fellow and pioneer president of the Nigerian Academy of Pharmacy; fellow of the Nigerian  Institute of Management; past president and fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria and the West African Post-graduate College, among numerous other boardroom appointments he has had and professional bodies to which he belongs. He is a recipient of the national awards of MFR(1986) and OFR(2002).