Obafemi Awolowo

Obafemi Awolowo Biography / Profile

Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo was born on March 6th, 1909 to Chief David Sopolu Awolowo and his wife Mary Efunyela Awolowo in Ikenne, Remo, in present Ogun State of Nigeria. His father was a farmer and sawyer who died when Awolowo was only seven years old. Awolowo was a Nigerian politician, aristocrat and statesman.

Obafemi Awolowo Age

Obafemi Awolowo would have been 115 years old, if he were alive today. May his soul rest in peace.

Obafemi Awolowo Early Life

Awolowo received his early education in the mission schools of Ikenne, Abeokuta. He had his primary school education at St. Saviour's School, Ikenne, and at Imo Wesleyan School, Abeokuta. He became a teacher Abeokuta, after which he qualified as a shorthand typist. After Which he served as a clerk at the famous Wesley college, as well as a correspondent for the Nigerian Times. It was after this that he embarked on various business ventures to help raise funds to travel to the UK for further studies.

Obafemi Awolowo Career

Awolowo often worked at odd jobs to raise money for tuition fees, and his entrepreneurial spirit continued to express itself in the various careers which he subsequently sampled: journalist, teacher, clerk, moneylender, taxidriver, produce broker. His organizational and political inclinations became evident as he moved to high-level positions in the Nigerian Motor Transport Union, the Nigerian Produce Traders' Association, the Trades Union Congress of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Youth Movement, of which he became Western Provincial secretary.

Despite his interest in business ventures, Awolowo wanted to continue his formal education. In 1944 he completed a University of London correspondence course for the bachelor of commerce degree. His greatest ambition, however, was to study law, which he undertook in London from 1944 to 1946, when he was called to the bar. Returning to Nigeria in 1947, he developed a thriving practice as a barrister in Ibadan.

During his residence in London, Awolowo moved to a position of prominence in the struggle for Nigerian independence. In 1945 he wrote his first book, Path to Nigerian Freedom, in which he was highly critical of British policies of indirect administration and called for rapid moves toward self-government and Africanization of administrative posts in Nigeria. He also expressed his belief that federalism was the form of government best suited to the diverse populations of Nigeria, a position to which he consistently adhered. Also in 1945 in London, he helped found the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa, the mythical ancestor of the Yoruba-speaking peoples), an organization devoted to the study and preservation of Yoruba culture.

Awolowo pioneered free primary education in Nigeria in the Western Region and also free health care. Although Awolowo failed to win the 1979 and 1983 presidential elections of the Second Republic, he polled the second highest number of votes and his policies of free education and limited free health were carried out throughout all the states controlled by his party, the Unity Party of Nigeria.

Awolowo is best remembered for his remarkable integrity, ardent nationalism, principled and virile opposition, and dogged federalistic convictions. His party was the first to move the motion for Nigeria’s independence in the federal parliament. He is widely believed by admirers to be the best President Nigeria never had was the first Leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government and Finance and first Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria’s parliamentary system, from 1952 to 1959.

He is credited with coining the name “naira” for the Nigerian standard monetary unit when he was the Federal Commissioner for Finance. and helped to finance the Civil War and preserve the federation without borrowing. The late sage took the name of Nigeria and collapsed it as ‘Naira’. He introduced free primary education for all and free health care for children in the Western Region and . He built the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, the first of its kind in Africa. He also established the WNTV (Western Nigeria television), the first television station in Africa. He equally erected the first skyscraper in tropical Africa: the Cocoa House (still the tallest in Ibadan) and ran a widely respected civil service in the Western Region.

He is the author of several publications on the political structure and future prospects of Nigeria. These works include Path to Nigerian Freedom, Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution, and Strategies and Tactics of the People Republic of Nigeria. The Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State was named after.

Obafemi Awolowo Personal Life

On December 26th, 1937 Awolowo got married to Miss Hannah Idowu Dideolu Adelana. They remained each other's best friend to the end; together they fought for the cause of justice and for the release of their fellow man’s mind from ignorance and the freedom on his body from disease. They had 5 children; Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, Tola Oyediran, Oluwole Awolowo, Ayodele Soyode, and Olusegun Awolowo (1939-1963). He died in Ikenne on May 9th, 1987, leaving behind his wife, four children and many grand-children.

Obafemi Awolowo Awards

Awo as fondly called was conferred by President Shehu Shagari with the title of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), the first and only non-president to be so honoured in recognition of his sterling qualities and contributions to the service of the country.

He was the first individual in the modern era to be named Leader of the Yorubas (Yoruba: Asiwaju Omo Oodua), a title which has come over time to be conventionally ascribed to his successors as the recognized political leader of the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria.