Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo ,
GCFR (Yoruba : Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ ; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987), was a Nigerian nationalist and statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement, the First and Second Republics and the Civil War .The son of a Yoruba farmer, he was one of the truly self-made men among his contemporaries in Nigeria. He was the first premier of the Western Region and later federal commissioner for finance, and vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council during the Civil War. He was thrice a major contender for his country's highest office. [1] A native of Ikenne in Ogun State of south-western Nigeria, he 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. [2] He 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 was the official Leader of the Opposition in the federal parliament to the
Balewa government from 1959 to 1963. In recognition of all these, Awolowo was the first individual in the modern era to be named
Leader of the Yorubas (Yoruba: Asiwaju Awon Yoruba or Asiwaju Omo Oodua).

Early life

Obafemi Awolowo was born on 6 March 1909 in Ikenne, in present-day Ogun State of Nigeria. [3] His father was a farmer and sawyer who died when Obafemi was about seven years old. [4] He attended various schools, including Baptist Boys' High School (BBHS), Abeokuta ; and then became a teacher in
Abeokuta , after which he qualified as a
shorthand typist . Subsequently, he served as a clerk at the Wesley College Ibadan, as well as a correspondent for the Nigerian Times.[5] It was after this that he embarked on various business ventures to help raise funds to travel to the UK for further studies.
Following his education at Wesley College, Ibadan, in 1927, he enrolled at the University of London as an External Student and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.). He went to the UK in 1944 to study law at the University of London and was called to the Bar by the Honorable Society of the Inner Temple on 19 November 1946.[4][6] In 1949 Awolowo founded the
Nigerian Tribune, a private Nigerian newspaper, which he used to spread nationalist consciousness among Nigerians.

Legacy

In 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. The Foundation was launched by the President of Nigeria at that time, General Ibrahim Babangida, at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan.[12] However, his most important bequests (styled Awoism) are his exemplary integrity, his welfarism, his contributions to hastening the process of decolonisation and his consistent and reasoned advocacy of federalism-based on ethno-linguistic self-determination and uniting politically strong states-as the best basis for Nigerian unity. Awolowo died peacefully at his Ikenne home, the Efunyela Hall (so named after his mother), on 9 May 1987, at the age of 78 and was laid to rest in Ikenne, amid tributes across political and ethno-religious divides.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obafemi_Awolowo

There is no where in this article and history that was stated he died by rat poison. I don't know where the rat poison propaganda came from.


Awo!!! One of the greatest Nigerian if not the greatest.

Great man...I salute you

Escodeb:
There is no where in this article and history that was stated he died by rat poison. I don't know where the rat poison propaganda came from.


Awo!!! One of the greatest Nigerian if not the greatest.

The best brain Nigeria ever/never had, in terms of governance/politics. *Coming from a non-Yoruba*

ObaKlaz:
The best brain Nigeria ever/never had, in terms of governance/politics. *Coming from a non-Yoruba*

You are absolutely right and spot on

The greatest politician Nigeria ever had. Obasanjo mastermind rigging of election in this country and I have seen he never meant well for the SW people. Maybe because he's.... ops..

lalasticlala , seun, mydn44


Help put an end to the misinformation the greatest Nigeria politician ever committed suicide by drinking rat poison

forgiveness:
The greatest politician Nigeria ever had. Obasanjo mastermind rigging of election in this country and I have seen he never meant well for the SW people. Maybe because he's.... ops..

Stop shaking OBJ's table �