Today, September 1, 2021 is a significant day for me. It marks my departure from Nigeria to Canada via Rome, exactly 30 years ago. I departed Nigeria via the International Airport Lagos on Sep. 1, 1991 on Alitalia airlines. I was admitted to Canada at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Sep. 3, 1991.
Took a memorable Greyhound bus ride from Toronto to Saskatoon (a little story there, but I resist the urge to digress. Though it was Fall temperature on my arrival, I found the 5-8 degree Celsius temperature extremely cold! Before my Canadian friends judge me, I was coming from 32 deg. C!
O’ Canada!
Arrived in Saskatoon on Sept. 5, 1991, to start graduate studies leading to PhD at the Faculty of Engineering of University of Saskatchewan. These individuals gave me all kinds of support to make my stay in Saskatoon bearable, rewarding, and successful. My late brother and friend Lawrence Owoputi and wife Moji Ale Owoputi, Dele Ogunremi, Toju Ogunremi, Niyi Akanni, Diran Fasina, Ian Bennett, Washington Gwayumba, Hellen Gwayumba, Yaw Adu Gyamfi, Adwoa Wiafe-Akenten, Ike Oguocha, Cosmas Oguejiofor. My faculty supervisor Dvoralai Wulfsohn was awesome! My dear friend Tabil Jr. Galindo Lope and wife Hannah Lee-Tabil were stellar, along with fellow grad students like Ramabhau Patil, Alireza Keyhani, Praveen Bargale, Hadi Khosh, Nayansingh Thakor
I have now lived slightly more than half of my life in Canada and the other half in Nigeria. Today I want first to thank God for His blessings, providence, and protection over the last six decades. God used Nigeria to give me a solid foundation, discipline, and work ethics in my first 30 years. For the past 30 years plus, Canada opened new doors and opportunities and has allowed me to fulfill my dreams and attain accomplishments I never thought was possible.
Over the years I have been privileged to give back to Nigeria and Canada, in various capacities because of God’s blessings. I am looking forward to many more years of good health and opportunities to serve God in Canada and Nigeria.
I also want to thank God for my family in Nigeria, relatives and all the friends in Nigeria and Canada who have been a part of this journey. I will never forget how God raised individuals at various times to lift me and family here, above very difficult and tacky situations.
I celebrate all my family, friends and colleagues today. May the Lord reward all of you, bless and keep you, may His face shine upon you today and always.