Julius Adekunle Ogunnariwo was born on August 1, 1942, in the village of Odokujegi, Ijebu-Imusin in Ogun State, Nigeria, to Mr. Joseph Adekoya Ogunnariwo and Madam Bernice Olubukunola Ogunnariwo. He attended St. Mary’s Elementary School, Ijebu-Imusin between 1950 and 1956. He was very brilliant, always alternating the first and second positions with his cousin, Johnson Ogundeko. In his final year at St. Mary’s School, he represented the School at the Ijebu-Imusin Progressive Society (IPS) competition examination, comprising all elementary schools in the Ijebu Imusin Community. He obtained the third prize position in the All Schools Competition.
He later attended Ijebu Muslim College, Ijebu Ode, from 1957 to 1962. At this point, his career almost ended due to lack of funding. His father, Daddy Ogunnariwo, working two jobs, was not a highly educated parent, but he was determined to educate all his children to at least secondary school level. Further education beyond that level was up to the individual child. Julius got admission into the School of Laboratory Technology, Adeoyo Hospital, Ibadan, to pursue a career in Laboratory Technology. In 1966, he obtained the Nigerian Federal Government Scholarship to study in England. He pursued a course in Medical Microbiology and became a Fellow of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences of England in 1970.
In 1968, he met his wife, Elma Eulean, while practicing as a Microbiologist. She was a Registered Nurse at the Royal Free Hospital, in London, England. They got married in 1969 and had their first child, Busola, in 1970. He proceeded to pursue an academic career in Microbiology at the British Institute of Biology, obtaining a B.Sc. (Hons) in Microbiology in 1974. That same year, they had their second daughter, Titilayo, four months before returning to Nigeria.
He joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1975 and taught Microbiology to both Veterinary Medicine students and Medical Laboratory Science students. He mentored several students, most of whom have become Professors and Senior and Chief Medical Laboratory Scientists at the university and in other institutions. He obtained a Master of Science Degree from the University of Ibadan in 1981 and immediately registered for a PhD program at the university. Between 1985 and 1986, he was at the Department of Microbiology, University of Calgary, to complete some aspects of his PhD project. In 1988, he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Microbiology, specializing in Bacterial Anti-Microbial Drug Resistance of Pseudomonas Aeroginosa to Cephalosporines and the Amino Glycosides.
In 1989, he got a post-doctoral position at Dr. Tony Schryvers’ laboratory at the Department of Microbiology, University of Calgary. His research at Dr. Tony Schryvers’ laboratory focused on developing a vaccine for the treatment and eradication of various diseases in animals and man. In this respect, he worked conscientiously and not only succeeded in developing the vaccines for the treatment of pneumonic fever in cattle, but his research findings also led to the application of the same treatment for several human diseases, notably bacterial meningitis, especially in children.
He was the author of several publications and patented several vaccines with Dr. Schryvers. But being a born entrepreneur, Julius had always wanted to be in business. Previously, while at the University of Ibadan, he had run a very popular nightclub, Club Safari and Boutique Safari. He later became a female and male fashion designer, operating under the label, SAF Fashions. So, in the year 2000, after he had completed the educational training of his four daughters, he ‘jumped’ back into the business to fulfill his passion. He considered Financial Planning and Real Estate as options but settled for a Real Estate career. It was a wise choice because, as Julius has always said, ‘everybody needs a roof over his/her head’.
In 2000, he joined the defunct Realty Executives Chinook City. Within the first eight months, he became the number three real estate agent out of about 68 agents in the office. In 2001, Julius moved to Remax Central, the number-one Remax Office worldwide, for four consecutive years. It has since become the number one Remax Office worldwide for the past thirteen years. Julius wanted a challenge in a high-performing office, and he got it. In his first year at the office, he was in the 68 position out of over 200 agents.
A few years later, the two Remax Central offices were joined together by the same owners, increasing the number of agents to about 300 in the same office. But Julius, through hard work, found a way to become one of the first 20 Top Producers in that office. He has won several Real Estate Awards in record time and has won an award every year for his real estate practice. Among his career record achievements are ‘Million Dollar Club, Calgary Real Estate Board 2006 (in 6 years of practice), Platinum Club Remax International 2006 (in 6 years of practice), and Hall of Fame, Remax International 2008 (in eight years of practice).
Dr. Julius Ogunnariwo is a man of different parts and means different things to different people. He is a very happily married man, a caring father to his children and a loving grandfather to his eight grandchildren. He is very caring to his extended family, always attending to their individual and collective problems, financially and socially. He remains an active and a financial member of his village church at Ijebu Imusin and the Chapel of Resurrection, University of Ibadan, respectively. He is currently an active member of the Beddington Pentecostal Church, NW Calgary.
In Calgary, he is a well-respected community leader in the Nigerian and African communities as well as in the Calgary community in general. He was a founding member of the Nigerian Canadian Association of Calgary (NCAC) and remains a very committed member of the association. In his five years of the presidency of that association, he raised the profile of the organization to become the best-run community organization in Calgary. He continues to support the association financially, and socially, and mentors his executives.
Dr. O, as he is popularly known in the African community in Calgary, has helped a lot of Nigerian families arriving in Calgary to settle down successfully both in terms of temporary and permanent accommodation, but continues to provide them fatherly advice and mentorship.
