Short History of Legends Commemorated With OAU's Halls of Residence
Oladele Adeola
Public universities in Nigeria have one thing in common, naming of structures after legends and heroes of the country. Obafemi Awolowo University is not different. In fact, the institution is notable at doing that.
Ranging from postgraduate to undergraduate; In this write-up, we look at halls of residence that are named after Nigerian legends.
Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo, GCFR (March 1909 – 9 May 1987), was a Nigerian nationalist and statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement. Born to 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. He was the vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council during the Civil War. He was thrice a major contender for Nigeria's highest office. 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, where he rose to become Western Provincial Secretary. He was responsible for much of the progressive social legislation that has made Nigeria a modern nation. He was the first Leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government and Finance. 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 (Asiwaju Awon Yoruba or Asiwaju Omo Oodua).
Samuel Ladoke Akintola: born in Ògbómòsó on July 6, 1910. He was a great politician and renowned for his great oratory. He held the title of the highly revered Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of Yorubaland. He was a teacher form 1930 to 1942 and worked briefly for the Nigerian Railway Operation before he joined the Nigerian Movement and established Iroyin Yoruba, a Yoruba language newspaper. He left to study public administration and law in England. He returned to Nigeria in the 1950s a qualified lawyer and then teamed up with other educated Nigerians from the Western Region to form the Action Group (AG) under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
As the deputy leader of the AG party, he did not serve in the regional government headed by its premier Chief Awolowo, but served as the parliamentary leader of his party in the House of Representatives.
In 1959, while preparing for Nigeria’s independence, the Action Group party took a decision that affected the career of Akintola, the party and Nigeria. He was asked to swap political positions with Awolowo to become the premier of the Western Region while Awolowo who also was the national leader of the AG, became the party leader in the Federal House of Representatives as well as the Opposition leader in the House.
Francis Adekunle Fajuyi is another African Hero. (26 June 1926 – 29 July 1966), he was a Nigerian soldier of Yoruba origin and the first military governor of the former Western Region, Nigeria.
Originally a clerk, Fajuyi of Ado Ekiti joined the army in 1943 and as a sergeant in the Nigeria Signal Squadron, Royal West African Frontier Force, was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1951 for helping to contain a mutiny in his unit over food rations. He was trained at the Eaton Hall Officer Candidate School in the United Kingdom from July 1954 till November 1954, when he was short-service commissioned. In 1961, as the 'C' Company commander with the 4 battalion, Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment under Lt. Col. Price, Major Fajuyi was awarded the Military Cross for actions in North Katanga and extricating his unit from an ambush. On completion of Congo operations, Fajuyi became the first indigenous commander of the 1st battalion in Enugu, a position he held until just before the first coup of January 1966, when he was posted to Abeokuta as garrison commander.
In 1966, when Major General Ironsi emerged as the new C-in-C on 17 January 1966, he appointed Fajuyi as the first military governor of the Western Region.
Queen Moremi: This piece would be incomplete without referring to the popular and courageous Queen Moremi. Queen Moremi was said to be the wife of King Oranmiyan of Ife. She was described as a beautiful and virtuous woman. Ife people was at the time of Moremi and Oranmiyan faced with constant raids and enslavement of its people from adjourning tribe known as the forest people (Igbo people). The Igbo people (forest people) appeared to Ife people as weird on battlefield that they were thought to be aliens. They believed they were sent by the gods to punish them for some evil deeds they might have committed.
The story of Ile Ife can't be told without the mention of the historic deed of Moremi, who did not allow the kingdom to have become history by now. Where men failed to secure Ife from the claws of the enemies, Moremi succeeded using her beauty and intelligence. She also sacrificed her only begotten son, Olurogbo, as sacrifice so that her people will not perish.
Muritala Mohammed: the former Head of State of Nigeria was born on a Tuesday, the 8th of November, 1938 in the Kurawa Quarters of Kano State to Risqua Muhammed and Uwani Ramatu. A Hausa by tribe, he was initially referred to as Murtala Kurawa after their quarters but later took up the name we all know him by today. Trained as a regular combatant at Sandhurst, Murtala Muhammed later took courses in Army Signals. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Nigerian Army in 1961 and became a Lieutenant seven months later. In 1962, he was drafted to Congo as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Upon returning to Nigeria, he served as the aide-de-camp (ADC) to Dr. Koyejo Majekodunmi, the Western Region Administrator put in place following the declaration of a State of Emergency. He was later appointed the Officer-in-Chief, First Brigade Signal Troops, Kaduna after which he proceeded again to Catterick School of Signals for an advanced course in telecommunications. Twenty-eight months after he was commissioned, he was promoted and became a Captain. Murtala was appointed to oversee a signals' unit at the Brigade Headquarters, Kaduna.
By the end of 1964, Murtala was already a temporary Major (known as a T/Major). Thereafter, he was transferred to Apapa as the Commanding Officer, 1 Signal Squadron. At that time, Lagos was the Capital of Nigeria where his uncle, Alhaji Inuwa Wada later became the Minister of Defence in 1965. When the first coup was carried out in January 1966, Murtala was still in Lagos. He was stung by the coup with the loss of prominent northerners. With IBB, Abacha and the rest, he would carefully plan and launch a devastating countercoup in July of the same year which cost Aguiyi-Ironsi and many others their dear lives.
Sources: Wikipedia, Legit.ng, Zoodml.org
Public universities in Nigeria have one thing in common, naming of structures after legends and heroes of the country. Obafemi Awolowo University is not different. In fact, the institution is notable at doing that.
Ranging from postgraduate to undergraduate; In this write-up, we look at halls of residence that are named after Nigerian legends.
Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo, GCFR (March 1909 – 9 May 1987), was a Nigerian nationalist and statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement. Born to 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. He was the vice chairman of the Federal Executive Council during the Civil War. He was thrice a major contender for Nigeria's highest office. 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, where he rose to become Western Provincial Secretary. He was responsible for much of the progressive social legislation that has made Nigeria a modern nation. He was the first Leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government and Finance. 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 (Asiwaju Awon Yoruba or Asiwaju Omo Oodua).
Samuel Ladoke Akintola: born in Ògbómòsó on July 6, 1910. He was a great politician and renowned for his great oratory. He held the title of the highly revered Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of Yorubaland. He was a teacher form 1930 to 1942 and worked briefly for the Nigerian Railway Operation before he joined the Nigerian Movement and established Iroyin Yoruba, a Yoruba language newspaper. He left to study public administration and law in England. He returned to Nigeria in the 1950s a qualified lawyer and then teamed up with other educated Nigerians from the Western Region to form the Action Group (AG) under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
As the deputy leader of the AG party, he did not serve in the regional government headed by its premier Chief Awolowo, but served as the parliamentary leader of his party in the House of Representatives.
In 1959, while preparing for Nigeria’s independence, the Action Group party took a decision that affected the career of Akintola, the party and Nigeria. He was asked to swap political positions with Awolowo to become the premier of the Western Region while Awolowo who also was the national leader of the AG, became the party leader in the Federal House of Representatives as well as the Opposition leader in the House.
Francis Adekunle Fajuyi is another African Hero. (26 June 1926 – 29 July 1966), he was a Nigerian soldier of Yoruba origin and the first military governor of the former Western Region, Nigeria.
Originally a clerk, Fajuyi of Ado Ekiti joined the army in 1943 and as a sergeant in the Nigeria Signal Squadron, Royal West African Frontier Force, was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1951 for helping to contain a mutiny in his unit over food rations. He was trained at the Eaton Hall Officer Candidate School in the United Kingdom from July 1954 till November 1954, when he was short-service commissioned. In 1961, as the 'C' Company commander with the 4 battalion, Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment under Lt. Col. Price, Major Fajuyi was awarded the Military Cross for actions in North Katanga and extricating his unit from an ambush. On completion of Congo operations, Fajuyi became the first indigenous commander of the 1st battalion in Enugu, a position he held until just before the first coup of January 1966, when he was posted to Abeokuta as garrison commander.
In 1966, when Major General Ironsi emerged as the new C-in-C on 17 January 1966, he appointed Fajuyi as the first military governor of the Western Region.
Queen Moremi: This piece would be incomplete without referring to the popular and courageous Queen Moremi. Queen Moremi was said to be the wife of King Oranmiyan of Ife. She was described as a beautiful and virtuous woman. Ife people was at the time of Moremi and Oranmiyan faced with constant raids and enslavement of its people from adjourning tribe known as the forest people (Igbo people). The Igbo people (forest people) appeared to Ife people as weird on battlefield that they were thought to be aliens. They believed they were sent by the gods to punish them for some evil deeds they might have committed.
The story of Ile Ife can't be told without the mention of the historic deed of Moremi, who did not allow the kingdom to have become history by now. Where men failed to secure Ife from the claws of the enemies, Moremi succeeded using her beauty and intelligence. She also sacrificed her only begotten son, Olurogbo, as sacrifice so that her people will not perish.
Muritala Mohammed: the former Head of State of Nigeria was born on a Tuesday, the 8th of November, 1938 in the Kurawa Quarters of Kano State to Risqua Muhammed and Uwani Ramatu. A Hausa by tribe, he was initially referred to as Murtala Kurawa after their quarters but later took up the name we all know him by today. Trained as a regular combatant at Sandhurst, Murtala Muhammed later took courses in Army Signals. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Nigerian Army in 1961 and became a Lieutenant seven months later. In 1962, he was drafted to Congo as part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. Upon returning to Nigeria, he served as the aide-de-camp (ADC) to Dr. Koyejo Majekodunmi, the Western Region Administrator put in place following the declaration of a State of Emergency. He was later appointed the Officer-in-Chief, First Brigade Signal Troops, Kaduna after which he proceeded again to Catterick School of Signals for an advanced course in telecommunications. Twenty-eight months after he was commissioned, he was promoted and became a Captain. Murtala was appointed to oversee a signals' unit at the Brigade Headquarters, Kaduna.
By the end of 1964, Murtala was already a temporary Major (known as a T/Major). Thereafter, he was transferred to Apapa as the Commanding Officer, 1 Signal Squadron. At that time, Lagos was the Capital of Nigeria where his uncle, Alhaji Inuwa Wada later became the Minister of Defence in 1965. When the first coup was carried out in January 1966, Murtala was still in Lagos. He was stung by the coup with the loss of prominent northerners. With IBB, Abacha and the rest, he would carefully plan and launch a devastating countercoup in July of the same year which cost Aguiyi-Ironsi and many others their dear lives.
Sources: Wikipedia, Legit.ng, Zoodml.org
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