Mr. Osei Tutu Agyeman, affectionately known as O.T. by his circle of friends and admirers, was born at Bekwai, Ashanti, on 27th July 1927 to the late Mr. Isaac Kwadwo Agyeman, then a businessman in Bekwai, and Madam Akosua Owusuaa of the Oyoko Royal family of Bekwai. O. T’s mother was popularly known as Maame Saaneh to commemorate the historic year of her birth – 1900 – during which the Ashanti warriors gallantly fought the much celebrated Yaa Asantewaa War with Otuo Saaneh. Guns” As a child, the O. T. lived with his mother and grandmother, Nana Ama Dwumfuo, the then reigning Queenmother of Bekwai. He later spent some periods of time with his father in Kumasi. O. T.’s parents instilled in him the virtues of humility, honesty, had work, respect for all and particularly, the fear of God.

O.T. Agyeman had his primary education at the Bekwai Methodist School, where he obtained the Standard Seven School Leaving Certificate in 1944. At School, O.T. was known to be highly industrious and this was evidenced in the various odd jobs he tirelessly undertook to earn him pocket money, including making of metal grills for roasting meat, fish, corn and ripe plantains.

Osei Tutu Agyeman had his secondary education at the Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, from 1945 to 1949. He was nominated Balmer House Prefect and a member of the school’s cricket and hockey teams. Throughout his life, O. T. was in constant touch with a substantial number his 1949 Year Group.

Having, in his early years, shown keen interest in architecture as a profession, Osei Tutu Agyeman sought appointed with the Public works Department immediately after leaving Mfantsipim, where he won a Government scholarship to study architecture at the Ibadan College of Technology. He was among the first batch of students at the college to undertake preliminary training in architecture, two years later, O. T. proceeded to Southend-on-Sea in the United Kingdom for further studies in his chosen profession. He qualified as an architect in 1959 and was awarded an Associate Member of Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). He returned home in the same year to settle in Accra.

A year after, in March 1960, Osei Tutu Agyeman met the woman of his love, Julie (nee Awuah), a trained teacher, a pioneer product of the Holy Child of Jesus Training College, Cape Coast, and a specialist in Home Science, whom he happily married at a colourful society wedding at the University of Ghana, Legon. The marriage was blessed with two daughters.

Described as a born architect by his professional colleagues, O. T. Agyeman was the first Ghanaian architect to be engaged by the erstwhile Ghana National Construction Company (GNCC) Ltd., a design / construction firm formed jointly, soon after Ghana’s Independence, by the Government of Ghana and the Israeli Government.

When the GNCC Ltd. was converted into a corporation in 1960, O. T. Agyeman, then a Senior Architect, was appointed a director to the Board of the newly formed corporation to represent the senior professional staff of the corporation. The Government of Ghana was so impressed by the performance of the corporation that it directed in 1961 that the corporation should take over the Public Works Department (PWD) with O. T. as the Deputy Chief Architect. After the 1966 military coup d’etat which overthrew the Government of President Kwame Nkrumah, the GNCC was split up into the State Construction Corporation (SCC) and the Architectural Engineering Services Corporation (AESC). O. T. Agyeman was appointed Architect of the AESC.

In 1967, O.T. resigned from the service of the AESC to take up an enviable appointment as Director of Development of the University of Ghana, Legon. He was assigned to the Mensah Sarbah Hall as Fellow. Barely a year after his appointment, O. T. was nominated by the University of Ghana, in July 1968, to attend a two-week British Council Course on New University Building in the United Kingdom. While at Legon, Mr. Osei Tutu Agyeman did not just confine himself only to the architectural works of the University of Ghana; he was on various occasions invited to provide technical assistance in the field of architecture to the other Ghanaian Universities and public institutions such as the newly established University of Cape Coast and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

O. T. resigned from the service of University of Ghana in April 1971, indicating in his letter of resignation his intention to set up a private practice in Accra. In accepting O. T.’s resignation, the then Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Alex Kwapong, paid a flowing tribute to the late Agyeman, expressing, among other things, the University’s sincere thanks to him and especially acknowledging the “excellent work” that he had done in the University during his four years of loyal service. The Common Lecture Theatres, the Extensions to the School of Administration Complex both at Legon and the Halls of Residence of Medical School of the University of Ghana, which O. T. brilliantly designed and effectively supervised, among others, remain a living testimony to the memory of Osei Tutu Agyeman.

After a distinguished career as a public servant, O. T. Agyeman and other trusted colleagues formed the Architectural Associates, a firm of Architectural Consultants of which he was the Chief Executive. Dedicated to his chosen profession, O. T. did his utmost to design and construct structures which remain aesthetically pleasing, well ventilated and equally well lit by natural light. He took great pains in designing very many homes to suit the life-styles of his clients. What is most surprising, and this is generally acknowledged by many of his colleagues, is that O.T.’s services were almost gratuitous. As he went about his work, the late Agyeman occasionally enunciated what he considered to be a guiding principle of his profession: that while a “doctor buries his mistakes, an architect’s mistake in a bad structure is always there for posterity”

O. T. Agyeman’s efficiency, hard work and dedication to duty and selfless devotion to the cause of his friends were common knowledge. Innovation, precision, thoroughness and pursuit of excellence and perfection were his trademarks. His contribution to the development of Ghana, in the field of architecture, has been extensive and tremendous. O.T. Agyeman left behind some impressive architectural landmarks prominent among which included, preparation of Working Drawings and Supervision of Agricultural Development Bank Building for Bank of Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC), Accra; Preparation and supervision of Asuoyeboa Housing Project, Kumasi, for the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT); Design of District Office Building for SSNIT at Obuasi; and Design of Head Office Building of the Ghana Oil Company (GOIL), Accra. In addition to these outstanding buildings, O. T. Agyeman planned, designed and supervised the construction of imposing houses in Accra, Kumasi and all over the country for nuclear and distant relatives, friends and religious organisations, most of them at the minimum cost.

Following closely the footsteps of his beloved father, Papa I. K. Agyeman, dubbed in his time as “The Pope of Methodist Church” O. T. Agyeman was an enthusiastic and practicing member of both the Methodist Church and the honourable society of Freemasons. Realising that the Freemasonry was not incompatible with Christianity, O. T. remained its faithful adherent. He rose to the highest office of Master of Lodge of Research No. 1671 SC. And attained the high and enviable rank of senior District Grand Warden.

On 28th February 2001, Osei Tutu Agyeman made what later became his last trip to Kumasi to preside at a site meeting at Asuoyeboa, where he felt generally week and unwell, but could not be prevailed upon to ignore the call of duty and attend to his health. The sickness deteriorated when he returned to Accra for medical attention at the Korle Bu Hospital. But alas! It was too late. On 14th March, 2001, death, a necessary end came when it came.