SONOLA Oladapo

Oladapo Sonola was born to the late Chief Olusoji and Chief (Mrs) Atinuke Sonola.

He started his primary education at UMC Demonstration School, Oke Ado, Ibadan and finished at ICC Primary School, Apata from where he crossed next door to the prestigious Government College Ibadan for his secondary education and he is a very proud Eaglet and member of the great 1970 Class Set. He then proceeded to The Polytechnic Ibadan for his A Levels and from there to the University of Lagos.

Oladapo Sonola academic qualification includes:

� Bachelors degree in Architecture
� Masters degree in Architecture
� Master of Business Administration (MBA) Finance
� Masters degree in Facilities Management.

Oladapo Sonola is a chartered Architect and a member of the Nigeria Institute of Architects.

Working Life:
His working life saw him rise through the ranks and he is currently the Regional Director and Country CEO of One Network Limited. One Network Limited is a Company that is engaged in Equipment Supplies and property development. One Network Limited is the operators of the Mettler Toledo franchise in Nigeria

Roles in Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association (GCIOBA)

a. CLASS SERVICE:
He started his GCIOBA activities from his Class and is one of the foundation members of the Set meeting and to date he has served in many positions. He has remained the Treasurer of the Set, a position he has held for over twenty (20) years.
He is a Director of the GCIOBA 7074 Investments Limited, the investment arm of the 1970 Set. He is a foundation member of the committee overseeing the GCI Museum.

Oladapo Sonola has received the 1970 Class Set Honours:
2008 Merit Award for Excellence
2012 Honoris Par Excellence Award
He is on the Committee overseeing the GCI Museum - a 1970 Set powered project


b. BRANCH SERVICE:
He joined the Executive Committee of GCIOBA, Lagos Branch in 2007 as the Treasurer, a position he held for 12 years. During this period he served as a member of the Annual Luncheon Committee and ensured the judicious use of funds. Throughout his tenure as Treasurer the Branch was always buoyant, paying all her bills as at when due. He was very frugal and cautious with money. He ensured the compilation of payments and created a regime of financial transparency. He has served through five (5) Branch Charimen, namely; Segun Onayinka (1962); Segun Ajai (1959); Richard Ajamajebi (1968); Wale Babalakin (1971) and Edward Akerele (1971).

In recognition of the important role of the Annual Luncheon in fund generation and to expand inclusiveness, he conceived and pioneered the Annual Luncheon Special tables at the Lagos Branch starting at five (5) tables when it was started and rising to thirty two (32) Tables at the 2019 Lagos Branch Annual luncheon. The Special table concept has now been embraced by many Branches and at the National level.

c. NATIONAL SERVICE:
He got elected to the position of National Treasurer in 2014 and as a means of getting more Classes to pay their Annual Dues to national coffers, he conceived the Elite Class of 5/5 project . The program was a runaway success increasing the number of financially compliant Sets from a meagre four (4) sets to a respectable twenty (20). He created the GCIOBA database and widened the reach. He is a Strong believer in living within your means, keeping an eagle eye to details. He changed all GCIOBA payments to E_payments ensuring that all payments were directly to the recipients and under his watch GCIOBA was financially buoyant meeting all her financial commitments as at when due . He left GCIOBA a financially buoyant association.

Of significant note is his contribution to the completion of the GCIOBA House, when in 2014 he started as an intern to the great late Lalekan Are (1948) on the construction of the GCIOBA House. When he joined the Ancient, the main Hall had no ceiling and there were no air conditioners, no generator. However, by a combination of soliciting for funds and prudent management of finances, the Hall was upgraded to the current enviable status.

He is a founding member of the GCI Education Foundation serving as the Team Lead Finance. A member of the team that saw the fund move from zero to over N100m

He is a foundation member of the GCI Assets Management Committee which was created in 2015. The Committee is in charge of coordinating and managing the GCIOBA assets including the GCIOBA House. He was appointed the Chairman of the committee in March 2020.

He has contributed to the upgrade of GCI and GCIOBA preferring to work from the background
He received the GCIOBA Merit award in 2020.
He is a recipient of GCIOBA 2022 Lagos branch Merit Award.
He is happily married to Adenike and the marriage is blessed with children.