Chief Obafemi Awolowo
One of the great heroes of Nigeria
From L-R; Picture of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Dr. NNamdi Azikwe.
Here's a time line of Chief Obafemi Awolowo:
- 1909 - Born in Ikenne, Ogun
- 1910 - Lost his father when he was about ten years old who was then a farmer and sawyer
- 1927 - Following his education at Wesley College, Ibadan,he enrolled at the University of London as an External Student and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.)
- 1944 - He went to the UK to study law at the University of London.
- 1946 - He was called to the Bar by the Honorable Society of the Inner Temple on 19 November 1946.
- 1947 - Awolowo was Nigeria's foremost federalist.In his Path to Nigerian Freedom (1947) – the first systematic federalist manifesto by a Nigerian politician – he advocated federalism as the only basis for equitable national integration
- 1949 -Awolowo founded the Nigerian Tribune, a private Nigerian newspaper, which he used to spread nationalist consciousness among Nigerians.
- 1954 -As head of the Action Group, he led demands for a federal constitution, which was introduced in the 1954 Lyttleton Constitution, following primarily the model proposed by the Western Region delegation led by him.
- 1959 -Controversially, and at considerable expense, he introduced free primary education for all and free health care for children in the Western Region, established the first television service in Africa in 1959, and the Oduduwa Group, all of which were financed from the highly lucrative cocoa industry which was the mainstay of the regional economy.
- 1960 - From the eve of independence, he led the Action Group as the Leader of the Opposition in the federal parliament, leaving Samuel Ladoke Akintola as the Western Region Premier. Disagreements between Awolowo and Akintola on how to run the Western region led the latter to an alliance with the Tafawa Balewa-led NPC federal government
- 1987 - Dies at the age of 78
- 1992 - The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation was founded as an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organisation committed to furthering the symbiotic interaction of public policy and relevant scholarship with a view to promoting the overall development of the Nigerian nation
- 1999 - He is featured in the 100 Naira banknote till date