Dr Adedayo OSHOLOWU

Clinical Director
Special Olympics International Healthy Athletes Program: NIGERIA

Dr Adedayo Osholowu is an Mphil Candidate in Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University
of Cape Town South Africa Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Department and the Sports
Science Institute of South Africa. Since 2007 Dayo has served as a Visiting Lecturer for the
undergraduate Sports Medicine Course at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. He also
holds a clinical appointment as the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) funded Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program with the Special Olympics
Program in Nigeria. He is certified as a Sports Medicine Physician by the Medical Commission
of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and completed the International Federation of
Sports Medicine Team Physician Development Postgraduate course in 2006. He is a Member of
the Federations de International Du Sport Medicine (FIMS).

Dr. Osholowu has a track record of working to pioneer Sports and Exercise Medicine in Africa.
In February 2010 he was selected as one of the 10 African Sports Medicine experts invited to
present his research in Football Medicine at the 3rd FIFA Football Medicine Conference in Sun
City South Africa in preparation for the World Cup in South Africa. In October 2010 he was one
of the 150 African Leaders invited to attend the 1st African Leaders Forum on Diabetes hosted
by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) as part of efforts to lead the promotion of
Exercise in the fight against Non Communicable Chronic Diseases in Africa. Since 2009 he also
has lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded Special Olympics
Healthy Athletes Program designed to create health education and/or treatment opportunities
for the athletes at Special Olympics events across Nigeria. In conjunction with the National
Director of Special Olympics Nigeria and Special Olympics Africa Healthy Athlete Program
Coordinator, he works to implement and expand the Healthy Athletes program in the 36 States
of Nigeria. In this role he coordinates the Healthy Athlete programs at State and local levels and
works Special Olympics Nigeria staff to identify sponsors and donors for the program. Duties
involved administrative, personnel and financial management of medical services including
liaising with the Special Olympics Nigeria Board to coordinate the implementation, development
and delivery of medical services and facilities for athletes.

In June 2010 Dayo was appointed a Member of the Medical Team of Africa’s first World Cup by
Dr Danny Jordan Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee,
evidence of his exceptional career serving as a leader in the field of Sports Medicine in Africa. In
this position he served as a Consultant Sports Physician and Medical Officer under Venue
Medical Officer Dr Christa Van Rensburg at the Loftus Verfield Stadium Tshwane Pretoria,
where he delivered medical services for the World’s best footballers including Lionel Messi,
Didiers Drogbar and the rest of Africa’s greatest players. In February 2010 he was admitted as a
member of the FIFA International Football Medicine Network by the FIFA Medical Office in
Geneva Switzerland and has since completed the FIFA Football Emergency Medicine
Postgraduate Certificate program at the FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence Johannesburg.

A graduate of the College of Medicine University of Lagos Nigeria, Dr. Osholowu underwent
additional undergraduate training in Sports Medicine at the Columbia University New York
Center for Shoulder Elbow and Sports Medicine in 2005 and obtained has obtained
Postgraduate certifications in Sports Medicine from the International Olympic Committee (IOC),
FIFA and FIBA (Federation for International Basketball). After graduation from medical school
he joined the Nigerian Basketball Professional League and served as a Medical Officer. In 2008
he was appointed Chief Medical Officer of the Federation of International Basketball (FIBA
Africa) African Club Championships in Lagos. Following this he also served as a Chief Medical
Officer of the Nigerian National Team to the 2009 African Hockey Cup of Nations and with
Nigerian Lagos Islander 1st Division Professional Basketball Team during the 2008/2009
Season. He has also served as the Medical Officer of the 2009 International Tennis Federation
ITF F2 Futures Lagos Governors Cup, Medical Officer African Hockey Cup of Nations Accra
Ghana and 2008 African Cup of Nations Accra Ghana. As well as the Medical Officer at the
2008 and 2009 Lagos International Half Marathons and Lagos Triathlon. This year he was
Team Doctor of the Silver Medal winning Nigerian Senior National Female and Male Hockey
Teams at the African Hockey Nations Cup Championships.

Dayo has also been personal physician to many Nigerian Athletes including Nigerian
International Basketball professional Michael Ani and Nigerian Tennis Pro Yinka Thompson. In
2005 he completed a Clinical attachment in Bariatrics (The Science of Weigh loss) at the
prestigious University of London. Dayo is currently an independent Sports Medicine Clinician
and Scientist based in between Lagos and Johannesburg. From his private practice in the City
of Lagos he apply the principles of exercise and nutrition to provide primary healthcare to elite
athletes, weekend warriors, people with chronic medical conditions such as obesity,
hypertension and diabetes to mention a few. He has a full licence to practice in The Federal
Republic of Nigerian and received a temporary licensure to practice in the Republic of South
Africa in June 2010.

Dayo Osholowu is an avid traveler and published travel journalist with a track record of working
to promote the development of the African Tourism industry in his role as Founder and
Chairman of Àjàlá: An upstart tourism venture with a market valuation of $24 million. In
February 2010 Àjàlá was recognized by Africa Investor Magazine as one of the 10 most
promising tourism ventures in Africa. As promoter of Àjàlá, Dayo earned the respect of the
African investor community and was selected as panelist with other African Tourism industry
experts at the 2010 Africa Investor (Ai) Tourism Summit. In 2009 he was also invited to
participate at the United Nations World Tourism (UNWTO) Think Tank hosted by Mr. Taleb Rifai
UNWTO Secretary-General as part of the 2009 World Tourism Day Celebrations. Since 2009 he
also has chaired a strategic partnership between the Àjàlá and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
to promote Zimbabwe as a tourism destination in West Africa. In 2009 he was also appointed a
Partner with Iheoo: a healthcare industry professional services partnership established by Dr.
Gbenga Adetimehin in Lagos Nigeria drawn from his background in Healthcare economics,
Health systems planning, Health Policy, Health management and Healthcare marketing
communications. Dr Osholowu earned a Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery from the College of
Medicine Idi-Araba Lagos Nigeria and completed the Health Management and Planning Course
at the same institution in 2006.

Dr. Osholowu is an avid endurance runner and cyclist; he completed the Law enforcement
Torch run in Johannesburg South Africa in November 2008. He is also a struggling and
currently uncapped golfer. Dayo is a medical journalist contributing to publications across Africa.
He writes a weekly column for the BuisnessDay Health Living and Business Section and is a
regular contributor to the Next Newspapers Health section. He is also a reviewer for the Student
British Medical Journal. Dayo was in 2009 honoured with the Nigerian Future Awards Young
Professional of the Year Award along with Nigerian Beijing Olympic Silver Medallist Yagazie
Chukwumerigie and MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) winner Dbanj. In October 2010 Dr
Adedayo Osholowu was recognised as one of the 50 most influential Young Nigerians by Y!
Magazine as part of the Celebrations for Nigeria’s 50th Independence Anniversary. In October
2010 he was one of the 40 Young Nigerian Leaders invited to attend the First Youth Forum of
the Nigerian Economic Summit group where he contributed to the Vision 2020 Presidential
Policy Change Dialogue. He was born on the 1st of June 1982 and is a citizen of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.

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