Samson Olajuwon Kokumo Olayide, was an academic and professor of agricultural economics.
Background
Olayide was born to Josiah Ogunpoopo Olayide (of the Ogboni High Chieftain Clan in Ilesa) and Mariam Olayide (née Oni – sister to Lisa of Eti-Ooni in Ijesha). He married Theresa Folashade Olayide (née Ikoli, daughter of famous Nigerian politician, nationalist, and pioneering journalist Ernest Sessei Ikoli) in 1961.
Career
He then went on to the United States, where he obtained an Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in agricultural economics from the University of California at Davis in 1964 and 1967. He also received a Doctor of Science degree (Doctor of Science) in economics by research from the University of London in 1981. On return from the United States in 1967, Olayide joined the University of Ibadan as a senior lecturer in agricultural economics.
He went on to become vice-chancellor between 1979 and 1983, and was elected to run for a second term before his untimely death in March 1984.
Olayide was a prolific writer and administrator. He also held various research consultant/director positions, most notably at Benin – Owena River Basin Authority, NIFOR, NISER, Food and Agriculture Organization (Food and Agricultural Organisation in Milan, Italy), and the Federal Agricultural Coordinating Unit (FACU) of Nigeria.
Olayide also published numerous articles in major national and international scientific journals, most notably his seminal paper on "The Nigerian Food Problem", delivered in 1974 and published in the Journal of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). He is also the author of many textbooks in economics/econometrics and production agricultural economics.