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Prince Professor L. F. O. Obika was born in Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria on February 19, 1950 to His Royal Highness, Obi Obika Agbobu Gbenoba, the Obi of Agbor, Delta State. After his secondary school education at Ika Grammar School, Agbor in 1967, he gained admission into the University of Ibadan in 1968 and graduated with a B.Sc. (Physiology) in 1972. In 1973, he accepted the post of Junior Research Fellow in Physiology at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
In 1977, he obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College), Cambridge, England, and returned to the University of Nigeria. He subsequently accepted the position of Senior Lecturer at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. His research work for the Ph.D. earned him the “Young Physiologist” Award of the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) at Paris Congress in 1977. In 1989, he accepted an offer of Professorship and Head of the Department of Physiology at Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. He continued to be active in teaching and research as well as in administration in this capacity. In addition, he acted on several occasions as Head of the Department of Anatomy and Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences of Ogun State University. Professor Obika transferred his services to the University of Benin in 1993, where he has been very active as the pioneer Dean (2004 – 2008), School of Basic Medical Sciences of the College of Medical Sciences, and Chairman/member of numerous committees of the University. He also served two terms as a Member of the Council of the University of Benin, Benin City.
Apart from teaching in Nigeria, Professor Obika was a Visiting Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, USA and taught at the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School of the University of London. He was a recipient of the Royal Society Developing Country Fellowship and the Commonwealth Medical Fellowship, DAAD, TWAS and other numerous International Fellowships that enabled him to travel to many countries.
He is an active member of numerous Local and International Learned Societies – Physiological Society of Nigeria, Physiological Society of London, Nigerian Society of Nephrology, International Society of Nephrology, American Society of Nephrology and the American Heart Association. He was the Vice President and later the President of the Nigerian Physiological Society. He was a member, and at one time, one of the Lead Assessors for the Rob Clarke Award Committee of the Physiological Society of London.
He was a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Zenith Bank, Nigeria. During this period, he served as Chairman/member of numerous Committees of the Bank over a period of twelve years. He is currently a member of the Bank’s Audit Committee. He was also a Director of MUSTE (2003 – 2011), a philanthropic foundation under the umbrella of JIM OVIA FOUNDATION to assist students financially at the undergraduate level in Nigerian Universities.
At the Community level, Professor Obika served as Chairman, Board of Advisory Council to the Dein of Agbor Kingdom (November 1996 – December 1997); National President-General, Agbor Community (1996 – 1998) and President, Agbor Summit (September 2006 – December 2008).
Prince Professor L. F. O. Obika is married with children
