Gabriel Akinola Deko was a Nigerian building contractor and former regional Minister for Agriculture in the Western region of Nigeria

Western Region, Nigeria

The Western Region was a subdivision of the federation of Nigeria until 1967. Its capital was at Ibadan.It was established in the 1930s under British rule as a subdivision of the Southern Nigeria colony...

, he was also a personal friend of Awolowo. As minister, he was involved in the promotion of an agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 settlement scheme that would employ and pay an initial amount of capital to new graduates from an established agriculture training college. The graduates would engage in farming. This settlement scheme was borrowed from an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i agriculture development scheme, Moshav

Moshav

Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...

. The scheme was partly initiated to arrest a tide in the movement of young men and women to the urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 areas where farming is hardly a career choice.

Life

Akin Deko was born in Idanre, Ondo State

Ondo State

Ondo State, Nigeria was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It originally included what is now Ekiti State, which was split off in 1996. Akure is the state capital.-Government and society:...

. He attended St Peters, Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

, for primary education and for secondary education, he went to Government College Ibadan

Ibadan

Ibadan is the capital city of Oyo State and the third largest metropolitan area in Nigeria, after Lagos and Kano, with a population of 1,338,659 according to the 2006 census. Ibadan is also the largest metropolitan geographical area...

 (GCI), he completed his studies in Nigeria at the Yaba Higher College in Lagos where he bagged a teaching certificate. He started work as a teacher at the Government College, in Ibadan, teaching mechanics and applied mathematics.

In a few years, he developed an interest in building and in 1947 went to the Brixton School of Building in London. He later started his own building contracting firm. However, in the 1950s, he was persuaded by his friend, Obafemi Awolowo to join politics and in 1956, he heeded Awolowo's advice and contested and won a seat to the regional House of Assembly, from where he was made regional Minister for Agriculture.

Later in his career, he was the African regional representative at the Food and Agriculture Organization

Food and Agriculture Organization

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...

 and he was also the pioneer Pro-chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure

Federal University of Technology Akure

The Federal University of Technology Akure was founded in 1981 under a drive by the government of Nigeria to create universities that specialised in producing graduates with practical as well as theoretical knowledge of technologies...

. He also served as the Pro Chancellor of University of Ibadan and the University of Benin.