Samuel Akintola

Samuel Ladoke Akintola
Premier of Western Nigeria
In office
October 1, 1960 – January 15, 1966
Preceded by Obafemi Awolowo
Succeeded by None
Personal details
Born July 6, 1910(1910-07-06)
Ogbomosho, Nigeria
Died January 15, 1966(1966-01-15) (aged 55)
Political party Action Group
Occupation Lawyer

{Other uses2

Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá or "S.L.A."(July 6, 1910 - January 15, 1966) was a Nigerian politician, lawyer, aristocrat and orator who was born in Ogbomosho, south west Nigeria. In addition to serving as one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria, he also served as the Oloye Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of the Yoruba.

After he was trained as a lawyer in the United Kingdom, Akintola returned to Nigeria in 1949 and 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 Western Region Government headed by the premier Awolowo but was the parliamentary leader of his AG party in the House of Representatives of Nigeria. At the federal level he served as Minister for Health and later Minister for Communications and Aviation.

In preparation for Nigeria's independence, scheduled for 1960, the Action Group party took a decision which affected the career of Akintola, the party and Nigeria when the party in late 1959 asked him to swap political positions with Awolowo by becoming the premier of the Western Region while the latter (who also was the national leader of the AG) became the party leader in the Federal Parliament. As a result of the 1959 elections to parliament, the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) from the Northern Region of Nigeria became the country's leading political party with 134 seats out of the 312 seats in the Parliament.[1] A second political party based in the Eastern Region of Nigeria obtained 89 seats in the same election. In the West, the AG elected 73 members to the parliament in 1959.[2] The NPC and NCNC coalesced to form the first government of the newly independent country. Rather than join the government Awolowo led the AG into the Opposition

The division of roles in the Western Nigeria government between Akintola and Awolowol led to a conflict between the two men. Akintola disagreed with Awolowo's decision to not join the government. Akintola felt the Yoruba people of the West were losing their pre-eminent postion in business and administration in Nigeria to the Igbo people of the East simply because the Igbo-controlled NCNC had joined the government and the AG had not.[3] In 1962, the AG party broke into two factions leading to several crises in the Western Region House of Assembly that led the central/federal government, headed by the Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to declare State of Emergency rule in the Western region and an Administrator was appointed.[4] Eventually Akintola was restored to power (after a lengthy court battle)[5]as Premier in 1963. In the general election of 1965, Akintola won his position as Premier, not as member of the Action Group party but as the leader of a newly formed party called Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) which was in an alliance with the Northern People's Congress (NPC) the party that then controlled the federal government.

Akintola was assassinated in Ibadan the capital of Western Region on the day of Nigeria's first military coup of 15 January 1966—which terminated the First Republic.[6] This was the "Young Majors Coup" or the "coup of the January boys" which resulted in the assassination of many leading politicians, mostly members of the Northern People's Congress.[7]

Akintola had five children, two of whom were later to become finance ministers in the Nigerian Third Republic (Chief Yomi Akintola and Dr Bimbo Akintola). Chief Yomi Akintola served as Nigeria's Ambassador to Hungary and Samuel Akinola's daughter-in-law, Mrs. Dupe Akintola is Nigeria's High Commissioner in Jamaica. His fourth child, Chief Victor Ladipo Akintola, dedicated much of his life to ensuring the continued accurate accounting of Samuel Akinola's contributions to Nigeria's position on the world stage. He published many works including a biography that highlighted his fathers love of his country and lifelong commitment to its progression (Akintola: The Man and the Legend). It is unique in giving an invaluable, not to mention personal,biography of this great Nigerian political figure. Chief S L Akintola's youngest son, the late Tokunbo Akintola, was the first black schoolboy at Eton College, enrolling two terms prior to the arrival of Dilibe Onyeama (author of Nigger at Eton).

A number of institutions, including Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, were established in both the Oloye's home town and other Nigerian cities as a means of remembering him posthumously.

References

  1. ^ Martin Meredith, The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence (Public Affairs Publishing: New York, 2005) p. 195.
  2. ^ Martin Meredith, The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence, p. 195.
  3. ^ Martin Meredith, The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence, p. 195.
  4. ^ Martin Meredith, The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence, p. 196.
  5. ^ cf. Larry Diamond, Class, Ethnicity and Democracy in Nigeria, Syracuse University Press
  6. ^ John de St. Jorre, The Nigerian Civil War (Hodder and Stoughton Publishing, London, 1972) pp. 34-35.
  7. ^ John de St. Jorre, The Nigerian Civil War, p. 43.
Western Region Premiers
Obafemi Awolowo  • Samuel Akintola  • Moses Majekodunmi  • Samuel Akintola
Western Region Governors
John Dalzell Rankin  • Adesoji Aderemi  • Joseph Fadahunsi  • Adekunle Fajuyi  • Robert Adeyinka Adebayo
Western State Governors

This is a list of Nigerian region governors and premiers in the First Republic (1960 - 1966). Nigeria became independent on 1 October 1960 and became a republic on 1 October 1963. On 16 January 1966 a military coup brought Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi to power, terminating the first period of democratic rule. During this period an appointed governor was nominal head of state while an elected premier led the government.

Region Period Governor Premier Notes
Eastern Region Oct 1960 - Jan 1966 Francis Akanu Ibiam Michael Okpara
Mid-Western Region Aug 1963 - Feb 1964 Dennis Osadebay Dennis Osadebay (Administrator) Region created from part of Western Region on 8 August 1963
Feb 1964 - Jan 1966 Jereton Mariere Dennis Osadebay
Northern Region Oct 1960 - 1962 Gawain Westray Bell Ahmadu Bello
1962 - Jan 1966 Kashim Ibrahim
Western Region Oct 1960 - May 1962 Adesoji Aderemi Samuel Akintola
May 1962 - Dec 1962 Adesoji Aderemi Moses Majekodunmi (Administrator) Administrator appointed during political crisis
Jan 1963 - Jan 1966 Joseph Fadahunsi Samuel Akintola