Obafemi Awolowo was the official Leader of the Opposition in the federal parliament to the Balewa government from 1959 to 1963.
19 Facts About Obafemi Awolowo
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Obafemi Awolowo was the first premier of the Western Region and later federal commissioner for finance, and vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council during the Nigerian Civil War.
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Obafemi Awolowo was thrice a major contender for his country's highest office.
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Obafemi Awolowo was responsible for much of the progressive social legislation that has made Nigeria a modern nation.
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In recognition of all of this, Obafemi Awolowo was the first individual in the modern era to be named as the leader of the Yorubas.
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Obafemi Awolowo was born Jeremiah Obafemi Oyeniyi Awolowo on 6 March 1909 in the Remo town of Ikenne, in present-day Ogun State of Nigeria.
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Obafemi Awolowo was the only son of David Shopolu Awolowo, a farmer and sawyer, and Mary Efunyela Awolowo.
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Obafemi Awolowo's father was born to a high chief and member of the Iwarefa, the leading faction of the traditional Osugbo group that ruled Ikenne.
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In 1896, Obafemi Awolowo's father became one of the first Ikenne natives to convert to Christianity.
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Adefule, Awolowo's grandmother, believed that Obafemi was a reincarnation of her father.
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Obafemi Awolowo often challenged worshippers of the god of smallpox, Obaluaye.
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Obafemi Awolowo attended various schools, including Baptist Boys' High School, Abeokuta; and then became a teacher in Abeokuta, after which he qualified as a shorthand typist.
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Obafemi Awolowo 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.
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In 1949, Obafemi Awolowo founded the Nigerian Tribune, a private Nigerian newspaper, which he used to spread nationalist consciousness among Nigerians.
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Obafemi Awolowo supported limited public ownership and limited central planning in government.
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Obafemi Awolowo believed that the state should channel Nigeria's resources into education and state-led infrastructural development.
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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.
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Obafemi Awolowo died peacefully at his Ikenne home, the Efunyela Hall, on 9 May 1987, at the age of 78 and was laid to rest in Ikenne, amid tributes across political and ethno-religious divides.
19.
Obafemi Awolowo is featured in the 100 Naira banknote since 1999.