Adelugba was born in Ondo, a town in Ondo State, his father Benjamin Adelugba was a native of Esa-Oke and his mother, Beatrice Adelugba was from Ibadan. Adelugba was a graduate of Government College, Ibadan from where he obtained a West African School Certificate, he later earned a Higher School Certificate in 1958 from the same institution. He completed his collegiate studies at University College, Ibadan with a degree in English and later obtained a master's degree in theatre arts from UCLA. While in America, he worked as an assistant at Lake Erie College and was an actor at Karamu House, Adelugba also studied at the Pasadena Playhouse. Upon his return to Nigeria, he briefly taught at Ibadan Grammar School before joining the academic staff of University in Ibadan. During the civil war, Wole Soyinka, the university's theatre troupe director was detained and responsibility fell on Adelugba to direct Orisun Theatre, the school's drama group.
