Looking at the king’s
mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breasts. This
popular African proverb by late renowned writer, Chinua Achebe aptly captures
the story of dental surgeon, Dr. Wale Omole.
The son of subsistence farming father and a petty trader in
a remote village, Wale Omole had little or no hope of getting a formal
education. But he had what most kids of his age lacked, he was hardworking and
adventurous.
The fourth child in a family of seven, Wale planted maize,
which he sold, cut trees for sale and did many other menial jobs to support his
indigent parents’ income.
“I was very hard working as a little boy. I would grow maize
and sell at the market. At other times, I would cut trees and sell for fire
wood. I would even go into the forest to pick snail and sell. I weaved basket
for sale too. The truth was that I did so many things to make ends meet as a
little child.”
But even that was never going to be enough. And so, after
completing his primary education at his native Ipetu-Ile in present day Osun
State, he went to Ibadan to stay with his elder brother and first born of the
family, Mr. Bosun Omole.
In Ibadan, Wale struck a deal with Bosun, who at the time
worked with his school certificate. But both brothers had a serious challenge
to overcome. While Bosun had a dream to proceed to university, he also wanted
his younger brother to enter college.
As a compromise, they reached an agreement that Wale would
work with his primary school certificate to raise fund, while the elder brother
proceed to the University of Ibadan.
“My brother came up with a novel idea. He said I should
work, while he went to the university. I worked in three different places. At
first, I worked as a service boy at Ifelodun Hotel, Mokola, Ibadan. Later, I
worked at another hotel run by a widow. The last place I worked was at a meat
company at Dugbe, Ibadan.”
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