Author: tope_litcaf


  • Yaba Medical School was a colonial medical training college founded in 1930 to train medical assistants with the award of a diploma. The school represents the first steps in post-secondary education in Nigeria. ERJ Hussey, as director of Education in Nigeria from 1929 to 1936, through his advocacy for a shiftfrom literary education to practical…

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  • Onabamiro Sanya was a biologist and statesman, born 1913 in Ago Iwoye. Before him, the dangerous guinea-worm parasite ravaged the whole of southwest Nigeria. In the 1950s, Onabamiro in the University of Ibadan did the research that formed the basis for development of strategies for the parasites’ eradication. As a pioneer in copepod literature, he…

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  • Onisile was the Alaafin of Oyo known and cheered for his “indomitable” spirit. In spite of the hostile fate that befell Onisile, he is remembered with a cheerful appellation, Gbagida, meaning ‘strong man.’ Onisile’s stubbornness and knack for engaging in decidedly dangerous activities caused the abortion of his reign. He was injured by lightning while…

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  • Ore Green was a Nigerian nurse, and celebrated avatar of Lady-like grace, born 1885 in Lagos to an ex-Superintendent of the Detective Force. Ore trained at St. Peter’s School, C.M.S. Girls’ Seminary, St. Mary’s Convent, and by private tuition in Mathematics, Latin, Greek, and Geometry under Rev. W.B. Eugba, principal of Wesleyan Boys’ High School,…

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  • Oribi, Ourebia ourebi are small, swift African antelope, having slender legs, long neck and tall, oval-shaped ears, living in pairs or small herds in the Northern part of Nigeria. The oribi has silky, yellow to reddish-brown coat with white fur on underparts of body and rump. Each knee has a long tuft of hair, and…

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  • Orile Owu is the deformed town of ancient Owu people, reported as very thickly populated (Omer-Copper estimated a population of about 40,000) and regarded in its day among the important Yoruba settlements. The walls of the town covered a circumference of about 9-12 miles. Orile Owu was formed when Olowu was crowned as a sessional…

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  • Orompoto was one of the four Alaafins to be buried in Oyo Igoho, the capital established by Eguguoju, his brother. Orompto, during his reign proved to be a gifted soldier, bringing back the military glory of the Oyo Empire. He won many battles, but like Napoleon, met his waterloo at Ilayi. His army was trounced…

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  • The Scimitar-horned Oryx, Oryx dammah, which formerly existed in northern Nigeria and indeed throughout the Sahel, is an antelope species of the Oryx genus, which has long and curved horn. A few physiological peculiarities such as its ability to delay perspiration till it reach a temperature of 46.5 °C or kidney ability to minimize urine…

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  • Edun Adegboyega was the secretary of the Egba United Government from 1902 to 1918. He was born in June 1860 as Jacob Henryson Samuel, but changed his name by assuming his ancestral name in 1904. Edun was educated in Richmond College, England and the University of London. As an ordained minister in the Methodist Church…

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  • Dipomu, in Yoruba language, Di opo mu, meaning ‘catch hold of the post’. Ancient judicial practise in southwest Nigeria in which an offender or anyone who was in trouble sought sanctuary in the king’s palace. A veranda post is usually grabbed to claim the king’s protection. The Dipomu system had been highly effective in divorce…

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