Category: History – Political
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Adepoju Akomolafe; Nigerian politician of the pre-independence era under the Action Group. As an active party member, Adepoju rose up to become first chairman of Ido-osi council area in 1955 and Federal Minister of Establishment. He was also an elected member of the first parliament[i]. Born to the family of Daniel Ashaolu and Dorcas Ajayi…
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Mobolaji Bank-Anthony; Industrialist and philanthropist. Bank-Anthony played an active role in the industrial development that swept over Nigeria from 1950s to the 1980s. He was a pace-setter in the joint partnership trend between entrepreneurs and with the various governments. He also spearheaded a good number of government joint ventures at multiple levels. He died May…
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Azikiwe Nnamdi; First Nigerian governor- general and later ceremonial president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Before this, Zik became the Premier of the Eastern Region in 1954. His party, the National Council Nigeria and the Cameroons, NCNC dominated the politics of Eastern Nigeria, winning for the Region internal self-rule in 1956. Zik was at…
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Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi; First military Head of State of Nigeria. General Aguiyi-Ironsi was described in Major Ademola Ademoyega, a revolutionary Yoruba officer and one of the key actors in the famed “Igbo coup” later, in his memoirs, Why We Struck, as a reactionary who mobilised his men to abort the January 1966 revolution in…
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Sani Abacha; Nigerian Head of State from November 1993 to June 1998. Abacha was the first officer of the Nigerian Army to rise to the rank of General without skipping any rank. He was also the first to become a full four-star general before becoming Head of state. Abacha who was Babangida‘s de facto number…
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Yakwubu Gowon; War time Head of State of Nigeria, who reigned for nine years from 1966. Gowon became Nigeria’s youngest head of state ever at the age of 32 years. When civil war threatened the very foundation of the country between 1967 and 1970, he in a mature manner kept Nigeria together after which he…
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Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida; Army General who ruled Nigeria as military president from 1985 to 1993. As a key member of the group that overthrew Shagari’s government in 1983, Babangida was rewarded with an appointment as head of the army. That post helped him establish a network of officers that ultimately helped him unsit Muhammadu Buhari…
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James Johnson Oluleye; General in the Nigerian army, who served During the Nigerian civil war, he was general staff officer 1, Nigerian Army Headquarters, from 1967-1970 and previously with the United Nations troops in the Belgian Congo, 1961-62. Oluleye was General Officer Commanding, GOC. 2 Infantry Division, Nigerian Army 1970-75; federal commissioner for establishment, 1975-…
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Jubril Aminu, Politician and educationist, also a cardiologist. In the event leading up to the Ali Must Go Students riot in 1978, Aminu as National Universities Commission, NUC Executive Secretary, asked the Supreme Military Council to introduce 50k per meal to augment the government subsides[i]. Showing versatility in his scholarship, Aminu played a significant role…