He attended the Anglican School in Ishara, then obtained work as a shorthand typist and writer from 1916 to 1931.

[2] Around 1923, the Study Circle was founded in Lagos, with a number of prominent young members including Akisanya, H.A.

The group sponsored essay-writing, lectures, debates and book reviews, and later became a forum for discussing political issues.

[6] In 1937 some expatriate firms led by Cadbury Brothers formed a buying agreement, a cartel to control the price paid to producers of cocoa and to cut out the middlemen.

[7] In 1941, the NYM President Kofo Abayomi resigned from the Legislative Council of the colony to pursue studies abroad, forcing a by-election.

Akisanya sought to be the NYM candidate for the vacant seat, competing against the distinguished journalist Ernest Ikoli, an Ijo.

[14][2] During the First Republic, Akisanya called Ladoke Akintola, premier of the Western region and his deputy, Remi Fani-Kayode "misguided small boys" when they decided to punish some of the Yoruba chiefs.

In November 1968, peasants attacked Akisanya for allegedly supporting the government's aggressive tax collection policy.