Timothy Mofolorunso Aluko, a noted Nigerian novelist, was born in Ilesha in western Nigeria on 14 June 1918. He attended elementary and secondary schools in his native district before furthering his education at the Government College in lbadan. He studied civil engineering and town planning at the University of London, England, during 1946-50 and became the chief Town Engineer at Lagos. Aluko was then promoted to the post, which he held for many years, of director of public works for Nigeria’s western region. He also taught engineering at the University of Lagos. His novels included One Man One Wife (1959); One Man One Matchet (1964); Kinsman and Foreman (1966) and Chief the Honourable Minister (1970). These works paint a vivid picture of ordinary Africans struggling to cope with problems springing from the confusing clash of cultures in the twentieth century.