Obafemi Awolowo

Life & Legacy

Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Nigerian politician and statesman who served as the first Premier of the Western region of Nigeria. He was known as one of the key figures towards Nigeria's independence movement from 1957 to 1960. Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe Omo Oduduwa as well as the Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria's parliamentary system from 1952 to 1959. He was the official opposition leader in the federal parliament to the Balewa government from 1959 to 1963.
As a young man he was an active journalist, editing publications such as the Nigerian Worker and the African Sentinel, on top of others as well. He later became founder and publisher of Nigerian Tribune of African Newspapers of Nigeria Ltd. He also expressed support for Nigerian nationalism and independence in his newspaper. After receiving his bachelor of commerce degree in Nigeria, he traveled to London to pursue his degree in law at the University Of London. Obafemi Awolowo was the first premier of the Western Region and later federal commissioner for finance, and vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council during the Nigerian Civil War. He was thrice a major contender for the country's highest office.
A native of Ikenne in Ogun State of south-western Nigeria, Awolowo started his career, like some of his well-known contemporaries, as a nationalist in the Nigerian Youth Movement in which he rose to become Western Provincial Secretary. Awolowo was responsible for much of the progressive social legislation that has made Nigeria a modern nation. In 1963, he was tried and jailed for 10 years on charges of sedition. He was pardoned by the government in 1966, after which he was appointed the Minister of Finance. In recognition of all of this, Awolowo was the first individual in the modern era to be named as the leader of the Yorubas (Yoruba: Asíwájú Àwọn Yorùbá or Asíwájú Ọmọ Oòduà).