CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO
Nationalist and statesman, Obafemi Awolowo, was born on March 6, 1909, in Ikenne, Ogun state. He worked as a schoolteacher, clerk and journalist before studying law at the University of London in 1944.
Awolowo played an influential role in Nigeria’s independence movement and is credited as one of the founding figures of Nigerian nationalism. A prominent Yoruba leader, he was the opposition leader of Nigeria’s first post-independence parliament and the leader of the Action Group, a liberal political party created to further the struggle for Nigerian independence. He served as the premier of the Western region from 1954 until independence in 1960 and ran for president twice.
In 1963, Awolowo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for plotting to overthrow the Tafawa Balewa administration. He was released in 1966.
Awolowo died at his Ikenne home on May 9, 1987 at the age of 78. He is remembered by many for his advocacy for federalism and Nigerian nationalism, and is featured on the 100 naira banknote.
