Timothy Mofolorunso Aluko (14 July 1918 – 1 May 2010) was a Nigerian writer.

Biography

A Yoruba, Aluko was born in Ilesha in the then Western Nigeria and studied at Government College, Ibadan, and Higher College, Yaba in Lagos. He then studied civil engineering and town planning at the University of London. He held a number of administrative posts in his home country, including Director of Public Works, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Housing, and Minister of Finance in Western Nigeria. He departed from civil service in 1966 and pursued a career as an academic in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Lagos, earning a PhD in municipal engineering in 1976 from Newcastle University. He received several awards and honours including Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1963 and Officer Order of the Niger (OON) in 1964.

His novels, including One Man, One Wife (1959), One Man, One Matchet (1964), Kinsman and Foreman (1966), Chief the Honourable Minister (1970) and His Worshipful Majesty (1973), are satirical in tone, and deal with the clash of new and old values in a changing Africa.

In 1994, he published his autobiography, My Years of Service, an account of his activities as an engineer and university teacher. His later autobiographical book, The Story of My Life, published in 2007, provides a more in-depth look at Aluko's life, expounding on his childhood and his work as a civil servant.

He published his last book Our Born Again President, in 2009. He was the father of Bankole Aluko SAN.

T. M. Aluko died on 1 May 2010 in Lagos, aged 91.

References

  • Review of Chief the Honourable Minister
  • Encyclopædia Britannica's Biography of T.M. Aluko: Nigerian author