Lamina Sankoh, born Etheldred Nathaniel Jones, was a Sierra Leone Creole pre-independence politician, educator, banker and cleric.
15 Facts About Lamina Sankoh
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Lamina Sankoh was born as Etheldred Nathaniel Jones in Gloucester, British Sierra Leone, in the Mountain District in the city of Freetown on 28 June 1884 to ethnic Creole parents.
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Lamina Sankoh eventually graduated from Fourah Bay College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree.
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Lamina Sankoh then went to study theology and philosophy at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, matriculating in 1921.
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Lamina Sankoh returned to Gloucester in 1924 and received a position as priest and was appointed curate of Holy Trinity Church.
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Lamina Sankoh preached for progressive thinking within the church, because of which he left the post in 1927.
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In 1930, Lamina Sankoh left the US to go back to Britain, where he became actively involved with the West African Students' Union, a London-based activist organization campaigning for self-government of their colonies in Africa.
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Lamina Sankoh eventually became the editor of WASU's journal, as well as a regular contributor.
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Lamina Sankoh became closely involved in municipal and local affairs, including the restructuring of city government in Freetown.
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Lamina Sankoh resumed teaching at Fourah Bay, this time adult education.
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At one point, Lamina Sankoh was the president of the Freetown adult education society.
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Lamina Sankoh established a "penny-savings" bank, as well as a newspaper called The African Vanguard.
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Lamina Sankoh established an independent church for Sierra Leoneans that was "relatively free of western influence".
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Lamina Sankoh fought hard for the unification of Sierra Leone into one nation.
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Lamina Sankoh founded the "People's Forum" and the "Peoples Party" in 1948, which eventually became the party known today as the Sierra Leone People's Party.