Category: African History

Although Africa is regarded as the poorest continent in the world, we can’t but identify numerous business magnates and self-made richest billionaires who rose against all odds and imprinted their footsteps on the sands of time.

The list of African richest people below and how they have amassed great wealth in a continent regarded as the poorest in the world arrests the misconception that all Africans are subjected to poverty.

Some of the richest people in Africa are self-made, some of them have built on their influence and power to gather their wealth, and some of these billionaires have leveraged inheritances to become one of the richest people in Africa.

One of the richest people in the world, and also the richest black man in the world, Aliko Dangote Of Northern Nigeria is also a world-class Businessman and a public figure that indicates Africa is blessed.

Listed below are the top 20 richest people in Africa (Africa Richest), their pictures, Age and Net Worth according to the data “My Woven Words” could gather.

1. ALIKO DANGOTE  –  NIGERIA 🇳🇬 

NET WORTH: $10.1 BILLION

AGE: 63

Dangote is the richest person in Africa and the only African on the list of the top 100 richest in the world. His primary businesses include cement, sugar and flour.

His company Dangote Group is currently on an expansion drive to many other African countries. Dangote refineries are expected to come online very soon.

Dangote, Africa’s richest man, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. He owns about 90% of publicly traded Dangote Cement through a holding company.

Dangote Cement produces 45.6 million metric tons annually. Dangote also owns stakes in publicly traded salt, sugar and flour manufacturing companies.

Aliko Dangote, an ethnic Hausa Muslimrom Kano State, was born on 10 April 1957 into a wealthy Muslim family. He is the great-grandson of Alhaji Alhassan Dantata, the richest African at the time of his death in 1955. Alhaji Alhassan Dantata was a successful trader of rice and oats.

Dangote has said, “I can remember when I was in primary school, I would go and buy cartons of sweets [candy] and I would start selling them just to make money. I was so interested in business, even at that time.”

Dangote was educated at the Sheikh Ali Kumasi Madrasa, followed by Capital High School, Kano. He has a bachelor’s degree in business studies and administration from Al-Azhar University, Cairo.

2. NASSEF SAWIRIS – EGYPT 🇪🇬

NET WORTH: $8 BILLION

AGE: 59

Nassef Sawiris is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His brother Naguib is also wealthy.

Sawiris split Orascom Construction Industries into two entities in 2015: OCI and Orascom Construction.

He runs OCI, one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, with plants in Texas and Iowa; it trades on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. Orascom Construction, an engineering and building firm, trades on the Cairo exchange and Nasdaq Dubai.

His holdings include stakes in cement giant Lafarge Holcim and Adidas; he sits on the supervisory board of Adidas. A University of Chicago graduate, he donated $24.1 million to the school in 2019 to aid Egyptian students and fund an executive education program.

Nassef Sawiris, one of Africa’s richest teamed up with Fortress Investment Group’s Wes Edens to purchase a majority stake in Aston Villa Football Club.

3. MIKE ADENUGA – NIGERIA 🇳🇬 

NET WORTH: $7.7 BILLION

AGE: 67

This Nigerian billionaire is an investor in the telecommunications and oil production industries.

He is the founder of Globacom Limited, which is the second-largest phone network in Nigeria.

Dr Mike Adenuga, one of Africa’s richest is the chairperson of ConOil PLC, a lucrative oil exploration company in Nigeria.

3. NICKY OPPENHEIMER – SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦 

NET WORTH: $7.7 BILLION

AGE: 75

Based in South Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer made the bulk of his fortune from the diamond trade.

He owns shares in several corporate companies such as Anglo-American. Nicky Oppenheimer is one of the wealthiest people in Africa.

The DeBeers diamond heir sold his 40% stake in DeBeers to Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012. Anglo-American, which Nicky’s grandfather founded, controls 85% of De Beers.

He served on Anglo American’s board for 37 years until 2011 and retains an estimated 1% stake in the company.

5. JOHANN RUPERT  – SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦

NET WORTH: $6.5BILLION

AGE: 70

Rupert is chairman of Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont. The company is best known for the brands Cartier and Montblanc.

It was formed in 1998 through a spinoff of assets owned by Rembrandt Group Limited (now Remgro Limited), which his father Anton formed in the 1940s.

He owns a 7% stake in diversified investment firm Remgro, which he chairs, as well as 25% of Reinet, an investment holding co. based in Luxembourg.

In recent years, Rupert has been a vocal opponent of plans to allow fracking in the Karoo, a region of South Africa where he owns land.

He also owns part of the Saracens English rugby team and Anthonij Rupert Wines, named after his deceased brother.

When the British design magazine Wallpaper* described the Afrikaans language as “one of the ugliest languages in the world” in its September 2005 edition (in reference to the Afrikaans Language Monument), Rupert responded by withdrawing advertising for his companies’ brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill from the magazine.

Rupert, one of Africa’s richest says his biggest regret was not buying half of Gucci when he had the opportunity to do so for just $175 million.

6. ISAAD REBRAB – ALGERIA 🇩🇿 

NET WORTH: $4.4 BILLION

AGE: 76

This Algerian businessman gained well through his investments in the food industry.

He is the founder of the largest private conglomerate in Algeria – Cevital. This organization owns the biggest sugar refineries in the world with the capacity to produce 2 million tons a year.

It is also involved in the production of vegetable oil and margarine. Cevital owns European companies, including French home appliances maker Groupe Brandt, an Italian steel mill and a German water purification company.

After serving eight months in jail on charges of corruption, Rebrab was released on January 1, 2020. He denies any wrongdoing.

Rebrab is the son of militants who fought for Algeria’s independence from France.

Cevital helped finance a biopic on Algerian resistance hero Larbi Ben M’hidi, who was executed by the French in 1957.

7. MOHAMED MANSOUR – EGYPT 🇪🇬 

NET WORTH: $3.3 BILLION

AGE: 72

Mansour oversees the family conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (D.1976) in 1952 and has 60,000 employees.

Mansour established General Motors dealerships in Egypt in 1975, later becoming one of GM’s biggest distributors worldwide. Mansour Group also has exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and seven other African countries.

He served as Egypt’s Minister of Transportation from 2006 to 2009 under the Hosni Mubarak regime. Mohamed Mansour is a billionaire and businessman with diverse investments across different industries in Egypt.

He oversees and manages the growth and functioning of Mansour Group and General Motors simultaneously.

He has stakes in the telecom education industry and real estate industry in different overseas countries. His brothers Yasseen and Youssef, who share ownership in the family group, are also wealthy; his son Loutfy heads the private equity arm Man Capital.

8. ABDULSAMAD RABIU – NIGERIA 🇳🇬 

NET WORTH: $3.1 BILLION

AGE: 59

His company BUA Group specializes in commodities such as flour and sugar. It is also a large-scale distributor of cement in Nigeria. Furthermore, the organization manages ports and terminals within the industry as well.

In early January 2020, Rabiu, one of the African richest men merged his privately-owned Obu Cement company with the listed firm Cement Co. of Northern Nigeria, which he controlled. The combined firm, called BUA Cement Plc, trades on the Nigerian stock exchange; Rabiu owns 98.5% of it.

Rabiu, the son of a businessman, inherited land from his father. He set up his own business in 1988 importing iron, steel and chemicals.

9. NAGUIB SAWIRIS – EGYPT 🇪🇬

NET WORTH: $3 BILLION

AGE: 65

Naguib Sawiris, one of Africa’s richest men is a scion of Egypt’s wealthiest family. His brother Nassef Sawiris is also wealthy.

He built a fortune in telecom, selling Orascom Telecom in 2011 to Russian telecom firm VimpelCom (now Veon) in a multibillion-dollar transaction.

He’s chairman of Orascom TMT Investments, which has stakes in a major asset manager in Egypt and an Italian internet company, among others. Family-holding La Mancha has stakes in Evolution Mining, Endeavour Mining and Golden Star Resources, which operate gold mines in Africa and Australia.

Naguib Sawiris is a majority owner in Euronews. He’s also developed a luxury resort called Silversands in Grenada.

Naguib Sawiris helped found The Free Egyptians, a liberal political party, at the onset of Egypt’s uprisings in 2011.

In 2015, he offered to buy a Greek or Italian island to house Syrian refugees, but Greece and Italy turned him down.

10. PATRICE MOTSEPE – SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦

NET WORTH: $2.6 BILLION

AGE: 58

Motsepe, the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, became a billionaire in 2008 – the first black African on the Forbes list.

In 2016, he launched a new private equity firm, African Rainbow Capital, focused on investing in Africa. Motsepe, one of Africa’s richest men also has a stake in Sanlam, a listed financial services firm, and is the president and owner of the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.

He became the first black partner at the law firm Bowman Gilfillan in Johannesburg and then started a contracting business doing mine scut work.

In 1994, he bought low-producing gold mine shafts and later turned them profitable.

11. KOOS BEKKER – SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦

NET WORTH: $2.5 BILLION

AGE: 67

Bekker, one of Africa’s richest men is revered for transforming South African newspaper publisher Naspers into an ecommerce investor and cable TV powerhouse.

He led Naspers to invest in Chinese Internet and media firm Tencent in 2001 – by far the most profitable of the bets he made on companies elsewhere.

In 2019, Naspers put some assets into two publicly traded companies, entertainment firm MultiChoice Group and Prosus, which contains the Tencent stake.

It sold a 2% stake in Tencent in March 2018, its first time reducing its holding, but stated at the time it would not sell again for three years. Bekker, who retired as the CEO of Naspers in March 2014, returned as chairman in April 2015.

His Babylonstoren estate, nearly 600 acres in South Africa’s Western Cape region, features architecture dating back to 1690, a farm, orchard vineyard and more.

Over the summer of 2015, he sold more than 70% of his Naspers shares.

12. YASSEEN MANSOUR – EGYPT 🇪🇬 

NET WORTH: $2.3 BILLION

AGE: 58

The company also has diversified interests in other industries. For instance, it is the distributor of L’Oreal in Egypt.

Yassen, one of the African richest men also is the founder of a big-time real estate development company – Palm Hills Development. Mansour Group is the sole franchisee of McDonald’s in Egypt, as well as the distributor of Gauloises cigarettes.

13. ISABEL DOS SANTOS – ANGOLA 🇦🇴  

NET WORTH: $2.2 BILLION

AGE: 47

Dos Santos is the oldest daughter of Angola’s longtime former president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who stepped down in fall 2017.

Isabel Dos Santos, the richest woman in Africa has made significant investments in Angola’s telecommunication company Unitel as well as in the Banco BIC bank.

Her father made her head of Sonangol, Angola’s state oil firm, in June 2016, but Angola’s new president removed her from that role in November 2017.

While Isabel’s father was president, she ended up with stakes in Angolan companies including banks and a telecom firm. She owns shares in Portuguese companies, including telecom and cable TV firm Nos SGPS.

She is an independent businesswoman and a private investor representing solely her own interests. In December 2019, an Angolan court issued an order freezing her stakes in Angolan companies, part of a suit about funds she owes to the state oil firm.

Isabel dos Santos is nicknamed “the princess” in Angola.

Santos’ mother, Tatiana Kukanova, met her father while he was a student in Azerbaijan. The couple later divorced.

14. YOUSSEF MANSOUR – EGYPT 🇪🇬 

NET WORTH: $1.9 BILLION

AGE: 75

Youssef Mansour, one of the African richest men is chairman of the family-owned conglomerate Mansour Group, which was founded by his father Loutfy (d.1976) in 1952.

Compared to his Egyptian wealthy Mansour brothers, Youseff maintains a very low profile. Apart from being a major stakeholder of Mansour Group, he is also interested in the field of consumer goods. Mansour Group is the exclusive distributor of GM vehicles and Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and several other countries.

He oversees the consumer goods division, which includes supermarket chain Metro, and sole distribution rights for L’Oreal in Egypt.

Younger brothers Mohamed and Yasseen are also wealthy and part owners of Mansour Group.

Former Egypt President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized his father’s original cotton trading business.

Mansour is a founding member of the American-Egyptian Chamber of Commerce.

15. AZIZ AKHANNOUCH  – MOROCCO 🇲🇦

NET WORTH: $1.7BILLION

AGE: 59

Aziz Akhannouch is the majority owner of Akwa Group, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate founded by his father and a partner, Ahmed Wakrim, in 1932.

It has interests in petroleum, gas and chemicals through publicly traded Afriquia Gaz and Maghreb Oxygene.

Akhannouch, one of African richest men is Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and the president of a royalist political party.

His wife Salwa Idrissi runs her own company, which has franchises for Gap, Gucci and Ralph Lauren in Morocco.

16. MOHAMMED DEWJI – TANZANIA 🇹🇿 

NET WORTH: $1.6 BILLION 

AGE: 45

Mohammed Dewji, one of Africa’s richest men is the CEO of MeTL, a Tanzanian conglomerate founded by his father in the 1970s.

MeTL is active in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages and edible oils in eastern, southern and central Africa.

MeTL operates in at least six African countries and has ambitions to expand to several more. Dewji, Tanzania’s only billionaire, signed the Giving Pledge in 2016, promising to donate at least half his fortune to philanthropic causes.

Dewji was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in October 2018 and released after nine days.

Dewji retired from Tanzania’s parliament in early 2015 after completing two terms.

Dewji, who is known as Mo (short for Mohammed), launched Mo-Cola several years ago to compete with Coca-Cola.

17. OTHMAN BENJELLOUN – MOROCCO 🇲🇦

NET WORTH: $1.4 BILLION

AGE: 87

Benjelloun, one of African richest men is CEO of BMCE Bank of Africa, which has a presence in more than 20 African countries.

His father was a shareholder in RMA Watanya, a Moroccan insurance company; Benjelloun built it into a leading insurer.

Through his holding company FinanceCom, he has a stake in the Moroccan arm of French telecom firm Orange.

He inaugurated in 2014 a $500 million plan to build the 55-story Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. It will be one of the tallest buildings in Africa.

FinanceCom is part of a project to develop a multibillion-dollar tech city in Tangiers that is expected to host 200 Chinese companies.

He co-owns Ranch Adarouch, one of the biggest cattle breeders in Africa.

Benjelloun and his wife received the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award for building schools in rural Morocco in 2016.

18. MICHIEL LE ROUX – SOUTH AFRICA 🇿🇦

NET WORTH: $1.3 BILLION

AGE: 71

Le Roux of South Africa founded Capitec Bank in 2001 and owns about an 11% stake. The bank, which trades on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, targets South Africa’s emerging middle class.

He served as chairman of the board of Capitec from 2007 to 2016 and has continued on as a board member. Le Roux, one of African richest men previously ran Boland Bank, a small regional bank in Cape Town’s hinterland.

The bank has more than 800 branches and over 13,000 employees.

Fellow South African Jannie Mouton’s PSG Group owns a 30% stake in Capitec Bank.

19. STRIVE MASIYIWA – ZIMBABWE 🇿🇼 

NET WORTH: $1.1 BILLION 

AGE: 59

This gentleman is the richest man in Zimbabwe.

Masiyiwa, one of the African richest men overcame protracted government opposition to launch the mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in his country of birth in 1998.

He owns just over 50% of the publicly traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is one part of his larger Econet Group.

Masiyiwa also owns just over half of the private company Liquid Telecom, which provides fibre optic and satellite services to telecom firms across Africa.

His other assets include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa.

He and his wife Tsitsi founded the Higherlife Foundation, which supports orphaned and poor children in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burundi and Lesotho.

After studying at university in Britain, Masiyiwa worked at ZPTC, Zimbabwe’s phone company.

He left ZPTC to start an engineering services firm, then sold it and founded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, but had to battle the government in court for years.

Masiyiwa also contributes a lot towards the betterment of education.

20. FOLORUNSHO ALAKIJA – NIGERIA 🇳🇬 

NET WORTH: $1 BILLION

AGE: 69

The richest self-made female billionaire in Africa.

Folorunso Alakija is vice chair of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration company with a stake in Agbami Oilfield, a prolific offshore asset.

Famfa Oil’s partners include Chevron and Petrobras. Alakija’s first company was a fashion label whose customers included the wife of former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida.

The Nigerian government awarded Alakija’s company an oil prospecting license in 1993, which was later converted to an oil mining lease.

The Agbami field has been operating since 2008; Famfa Oil says it will likely operate through 2024.

She is one of the richest women in the world.

Along with Aliko Dangote, three other Nigerian billionaires who made the list were oil and telecoms mogul Mike Adenuga whose fortune is currently estimated at $7.7 billion, Abdulsamad Rabiu ($3.1 billion) and Folorunsho Alakija, with an estimated at $1 billion.

With a net worth of $10.1 billion, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is the wealthiest man in Africa and the only African on the list of the top 100 richest in the world.

Isabel dos Santos, an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola’s former President José Eduardo dos Santos (who served as President of Angola from 1979 to 2017), is the richest woman in Africa.

South Africa is home to 5 billionaires in Africa, with Egypt also claiming 5 billionaires; followed by Nigeria (4 billionaires); Morocco (2 billionaires); and Algeria, Angola, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe – 1 billionaire each.

Only 2 woman features on the list of the 20 African Richest — Angola’s richest person, Isabel Dos Santos and Folorunsho Alakija from Nigeria.

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Africa richest

Samuel Ladoke Akintola was born on July 10, 1910, into the famous Akintola Akinbola family of Ogbomoso which hailed from Oba Olugbon of Igbon royal family.

His father was Solomon Akintola Akintola while his mother was princess Omolade Akanke Akintola, daughter of Oba Oyeniya, another royal lineage of Onpetu stool, Ògbómòsó.

Shortly after his birth, Young Ladoke Akintola followed his father to Minna, Gusua, Zaria, Kano, and Bornu, and to Chad, and Niger as his father had become an international literate trader in potash.

For primary education, Samuel Ladoke Akintola attended Baptist Day School, Osupa, Ògbómòsó and thereafter entered Baptist College and Seminary, Ògbómòsó in his home town, to receive training as a teacher and as a preacher of the gospel of Christ as it was a popular practice in those days.

Upon completion of training as a brilliant young man, he was given the rare privilege to teach at Baptist Academy, Lagos until 1946 when he proceeded to England on a scholarship award by British Council to study Diploma in Administration and Journalism at Barnel House, Oxford in Great Britain.

In 1947, he enrolled at the Inn of Court in London and was called to the English Bar (B.L) in 1949. In March 1950, he came back to Nigeria as a qualified Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

It is even said that by the time he completed his schooling, he had finished reading the complete works of Shakespeare and some other Poets.

Samuel Ladoke Akintola: A Political Gladiator

On the firmament of Nigeria’s landscape, he became the secretary of Nigeria’s first-ever political Association – the Nigerian Youth Movement, and became the Editor of the Daily Service newspaper, and through this job, his admirers began to call him SLA.

In 1953 under Sir John Macpherson, he became the federal (Central) minister of labour, in which he encouraged close cooperation between Management and labour.

And similarly, as the (first) Minister Of Health and Social Welfare, Chief (Hon.) S.L.A. was associated with the building and opening of the first Teaching University College Hospital, Ibadan in 1954, he was also the first Minister of Communication and Aviation.

He later became a leader of the opposition in the Federal Parliament after being elected from the Osun division into the House of Representatives.

As the leader of the opposition, he instructed all delegates to the constitutional conference of 1957 to secure the grant of self-government to the federation of Nigeria in 1959.

On this basis whether anybody likes it or not, Chief S.L Akintola remains one of the architects of Nigeria’s freedom.

It is a well-known fact that he was a first-rate and forthright journalist who used his pen to arouse public awareness and interest on diverse issues and also mobilized Nigerians in the struggle for international independence.

He was once charged with sedition on the columns he was alleged to have written for his newspaper and talks he gave to students.

When he joined Egbe Omo Oduduwa which metamorphosed into Action Group (AG) 1950-1952, he became the first legal adviser for the Action Group who combined the use of his pen and speech to promote and defend his personal and political party’s fortune.

His Oratory skill in English and proficiency in Yorùbá mastery were unparalleled and became an “envoy-extraordinary” of the Action Group.

There is no doubt the combination of Awolowo’s Management abilities and Akintola’s oratory skills made Action Group the best and well organized political party in Nigeria at independence in 1960.

The story is said and no one has disputed it, that in his limelight days, no political party rally would be complete without, SLA making his last remark to dispense the gathering.

Between 1954 – 1959, Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) became Deputy Premier and Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria in the immediate post-independence era (1960 – January 1966).

Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) was made Asipa of Ògbómòsó by Oba Olatunji Eleepo in 1954 and Ajala Agbe, as he was fondly called by Ògbómòsó people, became the 13th Aare Ona Kakanfo of the Yorùbá (The Generalissimo or Military Field Marshall) without fighting anyway; the first to hold the title in the 20th Century.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola

Prince Solomon Iyiola Olabisi, a retired police officer of well over thirty years now, in one of his interviews recently made bold to say without mincing words that “without Akintola, Awolowo would not have succeeded in his bid for political leadership in the west.”

He concluded by saying: “without Akintola there would not be an Awolowo”

Samuel Ladoke Akintola’s son, Late Victor Ladipupo Akintola, in one of the interviews granted, said his father was one of the Greatest Nigerians ever lived, and summed up the whole description in the following paragraph:

“Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) excelled in virtually all positions and posts he held from being a worker of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, a newspaperman, a parliamentary, a leader of the opposition, and even when he was Premier of Western Nigeria. As a journalist he was behind the expulsion of a white man who called a Nigerian a monkey, as a parliamentarian, he moved the independence motion. He equally saw to the establishment of Islamic studies in the University of Ibadan.”

What a great man he was!

Alfred Knight, an American-based progressive Yoruba enthusiast also wrote: “Chief Akintola never betrayed anybody not to talk of the Yoruba nation. He stood his ground when the situation called for it. For every portfolio he was assigned, he excelled outstandingly. Chief Akintola made us know that no man is an island. He made us know that the political success of the old Western Region rested not on one man alone. It was on collective responsibility.

For example, the “free education”, was not the brainwork of Awo. A minister from Ijebu-Igbo proposed it at the cabinet meeting, sold it to the party, and it was implemented. But today, everybody talks as if it was Awolowo’s idea. When Chief Akintola was Minister of Education, he made sure University College Ibadan ranked amongst its equals. When he was health Minister and the University College Hospital was established, he made sure that all the facilities were fully established and met world standards at that time. Tell me, have there been any addition to UCH since then?

If not for Chief Akintola, Cocoa House, Investment House, Lapal House, Western House, and the Independent Building would have been called Dideolu Investment. It was only Chief Akintola who cried out. He insisted that those structures and others were built with proceeds from the Cocoa industry and therefore cannot be allotted to Awolowo’s family. Chief Akintola made sure that the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University) took off (Even though it was Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s idea), he signed it into law during his administration as the Premier (you can read this from the history of the university).

Alfred Knight concluded by saying: Akintola’s legacy but his truth has continued to speak for him. Chief Akintola prior to politics, was a profound journalist, lawyer, and a Commerce graduate. His son was the first Nigerian to go to Eton College in London. He was a true Aare-Ona kakanfo and was never afraid of death. He laid down his life for the Yorubas but the politics of those days took everything away from him”

Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA), it is said, was the facilitator for the mass acceptance of the party in the West because of his proficiency and oratory prowess which till today has not been matched by any Nigeria. He was a leading light to the performance of the Action Group party in his days.

History is written only by the survivors, not by the dead, and Just like Chinua Achebe said; “until lions have their own historians, history of the hunting written by the children of hunters will always glorify the hunters”

If Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) was given long life as his contemporaries and his life was not prematurely terminated and survived the first Nigeria Military coup, it is most likely the story might not be as some of his detractors today portray him or even want to obliterate his achievements from the annals of Nigeria political history.

When it comes to the historical accounts of Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA), the problem is that many writers and commentators in recent past and present including some politicians are mostly being carried off the track because of selfish partisanship and self-prejudice or cheap popularity or a combination of all.

Akintola, the Premier of the Old Western region was a courageous man that deserved to be acknowledged and celebrated by every well-meaning Yorubas in Nigeria.

His intrepidity earned him the title of Aare-Ona-Kakanfo “Generalissimo” of Yoruba land. He was never an accident in our history, but a titan that should be well-acknowledged.

It’s irrelevant to dabble or engage in the feud which engulfed the two Political gladiators of the first republic but there is a need to put records in proper and real perspective and correct the drift and insincerity on the part of those concerned.

What I’m saying is that it is very pertinent and proper to bring to light the public knowledge in brief what brought about the clash or in-fighting between Chief Obafemi who was, in fact, the party leader, the first Premier of Western Region between 1954-1959, friend and colleague to Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA).

It suffices to say that the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University ) sited in Ife during Samuel Ladoke Akintola’s premiership and he inaugurated the governing council and was the first Chancellor of the University.

It’s no secret that Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) insisted that the University must be situated at Ile-Ife. He argued that Ile-Ife is the source of the Yorùbás so it’s proper and befitting that the university is sited in Ile-Ife.

It is the Irony of history that the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) belatedly honoured him with the Hall of Residence twenty years after his death.

He was equally the founder of the defunct Daily Sketch Newspaper amongst others and records are there.

In 1937, Nnamdi Azikwe started West African Pilot Newspaper. Zik was using the newspaper to promote only the Igbo Stock. Dr. Festus Adedayo said: when you’ll pick a copy of the West African Pilot and see the heading of an Igbo man that just came back to Nigeria with B.A. The newspaper was mainly by the Igbo and for the Igbo.

So because of this, in 1949, the Egbe Omo Oduduwa wasn’t okay with this, they needed to also have their own voice so it was decided that the tribune should be founded and of which Chief Obafemi Awolowo spearheaded it. With the cooperation of the then Yorùbá leaders such as Oba Adesoji Aderemi, the Ooni of Ife, the newspaper also started promoting the Yorùbás and was used as a political/ideological weapon by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In all the political wars that were fought at the time, the Tribune newspaper was at the centre of it.

When the feud between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief Ladoke Akintola started, the media was Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s choicest weapon with the tribune at the tip of his finger.

Even though Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola was a journalist, in fact, he was the editor of the Daily Service before he became the premier. His fierce and great articles at the Daily Service were widely accepted and his fans started calling him SLA.

It should be known, Akintola was never a pupil to Awolowo, they were both matured men with legal and political experience when they formed Action Group in 1950, different ideas culminated, and Awolowo was chosen as the leader of AG while Akintola replaced Bode Thomas as the Deputy leader of AG after his death in 1953.

In fact, the position that Awolowo occupied after independence, Minority Leader of the opposition in the National Legislative Council, Akintola was once an occupier in the 1950s while Awolowo was the Premier of Western Region in 1954.

Because Chief Awolowo wanted power at the federal level, he felt he must take Akintola’s position while Chief Akintola should step down to the regional level as the premier so he can achieve his ambition. This made them swap positions and to set the record straight, Chief Akintola was also Chief Awolowo’s deputy; becoming the premier was his right. The Premier, Chief Awolowo willingly resigned as the premier for his “bigger” ambition.

Summarizing the underlying factors that led to the crises between Chief Awolowo and Chief Akintola, the latter said he kept quiet for a long time hoping the chiefs and elders of the party should be given the fullest opportunity to settle the rift. He said he eventually broke his silence when the matter had snowballed into a political crisis.

According to chief S.L Akintola, from the beginning, Chief Obafemi Awolowo disapproved of his becoming the Premier, and he only succumbed to pressure because he had no other choice, secondly, the then Action Group controlled the press from day one of his administration never supported his government or say anything good of his ministers, of which he was the head of government. Chief Awolowo wanted to dictate everything or to run the government from the outside.

Also recall that before becoming second in command to Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the party, Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) was the first Federal (Central) Minister Of Labour (1952), the first Federal (Central) Minister Of Health and Social Welfare, and the very first Minister Of Communication and Aviation, all at National level.

The Nigerian House of Representatives sitting in Lagos in August 1952 passed an Ordinance the UCH Ordinance which established a University College Hospital for the University College Ibadan.

Funds were released by the Federal (Central) government through the persuasive, persistent, and witty efforts of the then Central Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola; SLA was the one that made it possible for us to have UCH Ibadan, till date.

Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) came down to the Western Region but Chief Obafemi Awolowo wanted every minor and major or even detail of Akintola’s government policy decision must pass through him.

Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) emphatically said they fell apart when Chief Awolowo continued to request that he (Akintola) should put government funds in certain private accounts, particularly the National Investment Property Company (NIPC) which Akintola said was contributing nothing or no positive impact in the economy of the region.

The other major offense leveled at Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) was his attempt to form a national or coalition Government. This step to those opposed to Akintola’s moves means Akintola was trying to sell the Yorùbá to the Hausas.

Alas! A big credit should, however, be given to Akintola for his foresightedness and sharp intelligence to forecast or the vision to see that in a federal system like Nigeria, with diversity in ethnicity, cultural and religious differences, the only way out is to ally, cooperate and fraternize with others in the system- for his Yorùbá people to benefit.

It was said that Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) mentioned to people that “no man is an island”. He also went ahead to say: “You all know I only gave birth to 5 children, also Chief Obafemi Awolowo also gave birth to 5 children, unlike the Hausas. A Hausa man can have up to 20 children, with that alliance, we can achieve more”

It’s important to note that up to date, the vote from the North determines who will become president. We need them in our corner more than they need us in theirs, no matter how bad we think they are. Except we align with them, get to power and break free to create Oduduwa republic, the North determines who will become president in Nigeria because of their population.

Besides, they take the civic duty of voting more seriously than all of us in the west. It’s only big grammar and vocabulary we know, despite the fact that our number is small, not all of us perform our civic duty of voting.

It is good news that after 65 years of independence in Nigeria and 59 years after the demise of Akintola from the political scene, Nigerians and the country at large is still struggling, and grappling with one another and with one problem of survival or the other, hoping for unity and oneness in a country amalgamated together 111 years back.

What Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) envisioned and fought for, remains Nigeria’s problem today.

It seems clear that no part of the country or ethnic bloc or group within the system, ever since political independence has been able to go alone without the support and cooperation of other groups within the federal system.

This early discovery was the “unpardonable” sin (Sir) Chief (hon.) Lawyer, Samuel Ladoke Akintola (GCON) “committed” against his people.

In an interview with The Punch newspaper on 30th November 2013, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, a great nationalist, a two-time former Commissioner of Education of the old Western Region, a former Governor of Oyo state, one of our few remaining elder statesmen and a man that played a prominent role in the politics of both the First and Second republics said the following-

“Chief S.L. Akintola was the supreme leader. Chief Obafemi Awolowo left (the Premiership of the Western Region) of his own volition without advice to contest the federal election. In the federal election, he contested but he had no alliances. The stubborn, aggressive, very hardworking, visionary leader that Awolowo was, he never understood real politics at any time. In real politics you have to look at the figures, you have to have allies- there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies. You must have some allies. Nigeria is too fragmented for you not to have allies. If you are counting in the presence of someone with nine fingers, you don’t count in the person’s presence and say ‘so you have nine fingers’. We had a brilliant man called S.L. Akintola who understood real politics. Awolowo believed that book knowledge was so important but he (Akintola) knew better. A situation arose- Awolowo wanted to ally with the east and Akintola wanted to align with the north. So there was a crisis”.

Some of the Achievements of Samuel Ladoke Akintola

On his social relation network, one of his sons, Chief Abayomi Akintola said, he loved us and loved our friends. He did not use his position to our advantage. He used his position for the common good.

Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola was a linguist and a detribalized, great Nigeria, who spoke English, Hausa, Nupe, and his Native Yorùbá Language fluently and eloquently without arrogance.

It is said he was a social egalitarian who matched his words with action. For instance, he used to sit, drink or eat at the same table with his aides and drivers.

Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola contributed to the growth and development of Education in Ogbomoso and the western region immensely.

With the Late Professor N.D Oyerinde, he was the moving spirit to the establishment of Ògbómòsó Grammar School And Ògbómòsó Girl’s High School.

Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) provided water and electricity for the upkeep of the two schools, he also single-handedly built an Assembly hall for Ògbómòsó Girl’s High School.

Other laudable achievements credited to SLA included a mass intra-city road network carried out between 1953-1957 through communal efforts spearheaded by him.

Interestingly as a good example, it is said that part of his father, Akinbola’s house at Laka/Jagun, Ògbómòsó was First demolished to give way to the road construction.

What an example of a good democrat!

In his hometown, Ògbómòsó, the Rediffusion radio service of 1955 was installed at Okelerin Junction of the town. Similarly, the new General Hospital came into being in 1957.

He made sure new electricity was installed in Ògbómòsó in 1961 and a new town hall built during his period is still standing to date as a monumental edifice now called Soun Ogunlola hall, and a new Ògbómòsó waterworks Dam on (Oba River) was put to use in 1964.

From all that has been said, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola was a man with a large heart and with robust monumental achievements, not only in his immediate community, Ògbómòsó, where he hailed from but for the whole country, Nigeria.

He was among the leading torchbearers and nationalists in Nigeria’s history. He was equally among the front-liners who fought for the independence of Nigeria and was awarded the prestigious national award of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON).

How Samuel Ladoke Akintola Died

Chief (Hon.) Lawyer, Samuel Ladoke Akintola (GCON) the last Premier of the Western Region and the 13th Generalissimo Of Yorùbá Military Marshall was aware of the plan for the January 15, 1966 coup.

Having heard of the coup, he went to brief Sardauna of Sokoto (Premier of Northern Nigeria) and the former having briefed Tafawa Balewa, the then Prime Minister Of Nigeria, who ignored it with a wave of the hand by saying it was a mere rumour.

It was shortly thereafter the said coup was executed and the three were killed.

Though Akintola was killed in the hallway of his official residence as Premier of the Western Region, true to his military post of Aare Ona Kakanfo, he had a fierce battle with his killers and witnesses said the kakanfo was invincible.

His killers decided to start killing his aids, and workers and threatened to kill his children if he keeps giving them a tough time and to show the world his selflessness even though he could have defeated them or escaped. the Kakanfo faced his killers like the brave Spartan that he was just to save those around him.

The then Commissioner of Police, Chief Odofin Bello instructed his deputy, Olufenwa to get a load of mobile police units ready to accompany the late body of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, SLA prepared at Adeoye Hospital to Ogbomoso his home town for the final journey.

His body was conveyed to Ògbómòsó by S. Ade Ojo, Mr (Later Chief) Lekan Salami, Mr. Agboola Ajao, and his younger brother Chief Adigun Akintola at 3 a.m on January 23, 1966, and got to Ògbómòsó at about 5 a.m.

In Ògbómòsó, others who saw and witnessed the final burial were Reverend S.A. Ige, Chief J. Ola Adigun, Chief Ogunniyi and Onpetu Ijeru, Oba Oladeji Atoyebi as there was no Soun in the throne, and by 6:30 a.m the burial was completed before news filtered around the town of the final rites.

May His Soul Rest In Peace!

The Legacy of Samuel Ladoke Akintola

Chief Akintola was survived by his wife Chief Faderera Akintola (now late), his children Chief Abayomi Akintola, Dr. Abimbola Akintola (a medical doctor), and Mr. Ladipo Akintola an accountant of note and an accomplished author who died a few years back.

Although Chief Ladoke Akintola gave birth to five children, the three mentioned above survived him. Omodele Akintola, the first child of the family, died in 1965, Tokunbo died in 1973, and Oladipupo Akintola is also dead.

Before winding up on this biographical dossier, the life and times of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, an enigma and unmatched charismatic leader, Ògbómòsó has ever produced since the making of Nigeria’s nation-state, it is appropriate to recall and document that Chief Abayomi Akintola his son was elected by Ògbómòsó, into House Representatives in the Second Republic in 1979 under National Party Of Nigeria (NPN) but later took up the ministerial appointment as Minister of State for Finance under Alhaji Shehu Shagari administration.

It is also noted that Chief Abayomi Akintola was also made an ambassador to the Republic of Hungary during President Olusegun Obasanjo as a civilian president in the Third Republic 1999-2003.

Another surviving daughter Dr. Abimbola Akintola a medical doctor, the younger sister to Chief Abayomi Akintola was also a federal Minister, under Alhaji Shehu Shagari second coming to power for three months before the government was toppled by another military putsch of December 31, 1983.

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso

The conception of the University began in 1987 when Governor Adetunji Olurin, the then Military Governor of Oyo State, responding to a letter from the Governing Council of the Polytechnic Ibadan set up a seven-member inter-ministerial committee under the chairperson of Mrs. Oyinkan Ayoola.

The Committee submitted its report in 1988 and recommended the establishment of a State University.

In response to their submission, a 15-member committee of distinguished academicians under the chairmanship of Professor J. A. Akinpelu was inaugurated to further deliberate on the matter.

The committee again retained the earlier verdict of the necessity for a new University in the then Oyo State. Several other committees, notably that of the Archdeacon (Dr) E. O. Alayande also deliberated on the viability of an Oyo State University.

Then in October 1989, an inter-ministerial committee set up by the Governor, Col. Sasaenia Adedeji Oresanya under the Chairperson of Mrs. Lydia Oyewumi Abimbola the State Commissioner for Education by then, conclusively approved the idea and launched the Higher Education Development Appeal Fund of the University.

A total Sum of N19m was realized in both cash and pledges from the launching ceremonies conducted in the State Capital and in the 42 Local Government Areas of the State.

Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola (succeeded SLA as kakanfo) who was the chief launcher, donated a total sum of N2.05 million.

On the 9th of February 1990, the Abimbola Administerial committee established a Technical Committee of distinguished Academics chaired by Prof. (Chief) E. A. Tugbiyele to formulate the blueprint for the infrastructure and administration of the new University.

The committee submitted its report, on 12th April 1990, to the Government which approved it immediately. On 13th March 1990, the Federal Military Government acceded to the State’s request to set up the new University.

Col. Oresanya later signed the Edict Establishing the University on 23rd April 1990. He also announced on 2nd May 1990 the Appointment of Professor Olusegun Ladimeji Oke, a distinguished Chemist and a Fellow of the Academy of Science (FAS) as the first Vice-Chancellor of the University.

In addition, the names of the Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade, and other members of the first Governing Council were announced on 28th May 1990, and Col. Sasaenia Oresanya himself became the foundation Visitor to the University.

Later Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola became the first Chancellor in January 1991 with the approval of the succeeding visitor, Col. Abdulkareem Adisa.

The first meeting of the University Governing Council was held on 7th June 1990, the first Senate meeting was convened on 13th February 1991, and the first Academic session began on 19th October 1990 with a total number of 436 candidates offered admission to various courses in four faculties namely Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Engineering and Management Sciences, and Pure and Applied Sciences.

The establishment of the College of Health Sciences was postponed for a year and later took effect in October 1991 with a student population of thirty (30).

Arising from the creation of Osun State from the former Oyo State, the name of the University was changed from the Oyo State University of Technology to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso and the Edict that established the University was appropriately amended.

A great man he was.

SLA left the world better than he met it, that is his Legacy!

A Call to Preserve the True Legacy of Chief S. L. Akintola

Over the years, some remarkable authors have done a fantastic job of preserving the memory and good deeds of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. Among them are

1. Akintola: The Man and the Legend by Victor Ladipo Akintola,
2. Samuel Ladoke Akintola: In the Eyes of History by Hon. Femi Kehinde,
3. S. L. Akintola: His Life and Times by Prof. Akinjide Osuntokun, and
4. S. L. Akintola: His Politics and His Nation – The Reminiscence of One of His Associates by S. A. Tinubu.

These works have helped to paint a clearer picture of who Chief Akintola truly was, correcting many of the misconceptions that have followed his name over the years.

It is a known fact that because of the great love and admiration many people have for Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the roles and impact of Chief Akintola in Yoruba history are often downplayed. Yet, history is broad enough to accommodate and celebrate both men without diminishing either. They were both giants of their time, and each contributed immensely to the progress and identity of the Yoruba nation in different ways.

Chief Akintola was not blessed with the long life that might have allowed him to write books, defend himself, or tell his own story as Chief Awolowo did. But his works, vision, and sacrifices still speak for him. The roads he built, the schools he founded, the policies he championed, and the people he touched remain living testaments to his leadership and love for his people.

This is therefore an honest appeal to the Akintola family, the good people of Ogbomoso, and indeed to all sons and daughters of Yorubaland: let us not allow time or sentiment to erase the legacy of this great man. His story must continue to be told with truth, fairness, and pride. The name Samuel Ladoke Akintola deserves to be remembered, studied, and celebrated, for he was a man who gave his all in service to his people and to the unity of our beloved nation.

References

1. UCH Ibadan Website; https://uch-ibadan.org.ng
2. Wikipedia
3. Media Reports Projects, Chief The Honourable S.L Akintola GCON, Premier Western Nigeria (1960-1966) selected speeches, “Let God, History and Posterity Judge” Edited by Yemi Adedokun
4. We Should be Kind to  History, Samuel Ladoke  Akintola Betrayed Nobody written by By Ogunwoye Gbemiga Samson published on National Insight
5. “Ògbómòsó in the Early Times Modern Era and in Today’s Contemporary World” Written by Chief Oyebisi Okewuyi (Page 99-103) Published by Johnny Printing Works
6. A discussion with Pa Rev. Ogunleye on December 2019

George was born in London on July 26, 1872, and relocated to Montreal, Canada, in 1894. He then lived briefly in Cleveland, Ohio. On November 17, 1906, the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention appointed him the first medical missionary to Africa.

On March 18 1907, newlyweds George and Lydia Green arrived in Ògbómòsó, Nigeria—soaked from the storm that greeted them. A local neighbor reassured them: “A good omen… It means the stranger will stay in our midst a long time.”

And they did.

For 37 years, the Greens served the Nigerian people through medical care, evangelism, and church planting. Their home became a hospital, with a shade tree as the waiting room where Scripture was read daily. George believed that “Medical work is an auxiliary to evangelism.”

By the end of their ministry, George was honoured with the title Baba Onisegun—Chief of the Medicine Men.

Arrival

When London-born Dr. George Green and his wife Lydia arrived in Ogbomoso from the United States of America on March 18, 1907, they brought Dr. Green’s personal medical instruments, some drugs, and fifty dollars, and they started the Ogbomoso Baptist Hospital [Now Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH)]

The Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has provided to begin medical work in Nigeria. The newly married couple settled into the house Rev. C. E. Smith had built twenty-five earlier (near the present Antioch Baptist Church).

The next day, a girl about four years old was brought to him because of her crooked legs. Dr. Green converted the dining room into an operation theatre and the dining table into an operating table for the straightening of the girl’s legs.

Mrs. Green served as the nurse, and Rev. S. G. Pimock administered Chloroform as the anesthesia. In a few weeks, the girl’s running around was proof of the operation’s success.

Through this first successful operation, the ministry of healing, then known as the Baptist Medical Centre, began, now transformed into a Bowen University Teaching Hospital in 2009.

Impact and Legacy

Two (2) years later the Greens moved to another house where the ground level served as the hospital while the top floor served as their living quarters, in 1911 the departure of a missionary made a separate house available, but the expansion of the ministry necessitate the addition of thatched sheds on either side of the house to serve as wards for male and female patients.

When the government Rest House and the post office across the road from the hospital were to be relocated, the Baptist Mission applied for the present site of almost forty (40) acres. The young women of the WMU of Virginia, Mrs. Green’s home state, provided the first funds for permanent buildings in 1917.

A special campaign of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1919 contributed additional funds. In 1921, the Executive Committee of the Baptist Mission approved the plans for proposed buildings. The cornerstone was laid in December of that year.

Dr. E. G. Maclean, a dentist who has moved from Iwo to Ogbomoso to supervise the construction of the buildings for the Baptist College and Seminary, also supervised the beginning of the construction of the new hospital buildings. In 1922, Rev H. P McCormick came to finish the construction.

On July 4, 1923, The Baptist Hospital was dedicated and opened for use. Those mud buildings were used for 36 years until they were torn down to be utilized for the construction of the initial part of the present facility, which was dedicated on August 16, 1959.

Through the years, the hospital has expanded to include other aspects of medical work, such as the training of General Medical Practitioners, nurses, and housemen; providing treatment for victims of Hansen’s Disease and tuberculosis; caring for motherless babies and malnourished children; and providing dental care.

Dr. Geoge Green married Lydia Barnes Williams on January 9, 1907, and together, they spent 37 years in Nigeria. Dr. George Green was installed Ba’asegun of Ògbómòsó and died in 1962 at the age of 90.

What they lay down is still serving the people of Ogbomoso to this day.

George Green Baptist College, Ogbomoso

In memory of Dr. George Green, the Ba’asegun Of Ogbomoso, and his wife, George Green Baptist college, Ogbomoso was inaugurated on Wednesday 6th October, 2004.

On the 7th October 2004, teaching commenced with sixty-three (63) Pioneer students and 10 (ten) Pioneer tutors under the leadership of Mr. David A. Oladunni (now of blessed memory), the 1st Principal.

George Green Baptist College, Ògbómòsó, operated on Bowen University Teaching Hospital staff school as a temporary site before moving to its permanent site at Baby area, Ogbomoso on 25th/9/2006.

George Green Baptist College, Ògbómòsó, is renowned for excellence and integrity, all to the Glory of God. Amongst numerous successes is 1st position in the spelling Bee Competition amongst 110 contestants, 3rd position in Mathematics Olympia 2016/2017, 1st position in the Bible Quiz in the South West 2017, and 3rd position in National Bible Quiz Nigeria 2017, amongst others.

Introduction

The biography of His Royal Majesty Alayeluwa Oba Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi Ajagungbade III JP, CON, the immediate past Soun of Ogbomosoland is an interesting one.

To be born into royal lineage does not confer automatic kingship status on all princes, princes are born but kings are made through divine intervention. His Royal Majesty Oba Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi Ajagungbade III JP, CON, Soun of Ogbomosholand was born on May 27, 1926- a month after the birth of another monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of England.

His father was His Royal Highness Oba Bello Afolabi Oyewumi Ajagungbade II (the Baale of Ogbomoso from 1916 to 1940), and Ayaba Selia Olatundun Adunni Oyewumi of Arowomole compound of Arowomole, Ogbomoso. He was the youngest of his mother’s three male children. His father had many wives and 63 children.

Because of his mother’s proclivity to give birth to male children in a household where other queens had a preponderance of female children, she found herself in the midst of envy and discrimination from the other wives.

It was rumoured that Oba Oyewumi’s mother when she was pregnant with the now monarch consulted an Ifa priest to make an attempt to change his sex to a female in the womb but this failed, the other Ayabas having threatened her against giving birth to another male child. Therefore, the mother and child were much travailed after the prince was born.

Prince Oladunni Oyewumi was the youngest of his mother’s three male children, a development which attracted open rivalry, serious recriminations, and unpretentious jealousy among the other olori (wives) whose children are mainly female.

After the birth of Prince Oladunni, many troubles began to brew in the palace while Olori Olatundun was abandoned with her fate.

To escape the unabated animosity directed against them, his mother, taking him along left the palace first for her family house at Arowomole and then for Ibadan and then relocated to Ibadan with an uncle domiciled in that city.

After about six years in Ibadan, Prince Oladunni started his elementary education at St Patrick’s School, Oke Padre, Ibadan.

Early Struggles

Prince Jimoh Oladunni started his educational career at St. Patrick’s School, Oke-Padre, Ibadan. But the death of his father in 1940 meant that a return to Ogbomoso with his mother for the wife to mourn her husband was imperative.

At the time, Oladunni was a mere 14-year-old boy. He thus continued his education at the (now defunct) Ogbomoso Peoples Institute headed by Professor Eyo Ita and pioneered by Professor N.D Oyerinde, the First Nigerian Professor and proud Ogbomoso son.

The school was the precursor of Ogbomoso Grammar School. With his mother, he had relocated to the Arowomole compound since the household of the deceased Oba had to leave the palace. Eventually, his dream of schooling was aborted due to financial constraints.

There was no help so, he reluctantly became a farm help, under one of his brothers, Dawodu Laleye, who initially promised to assist with his education.

His brother was supposed to fund his education but he kept on stalling and so one day, he fled to an Ijesa community to try his hand at gold mining.

But there, all he could lay his hand on was cloth weaving. But the spirit of hard work and determination that would later mark his adult life manifested from this time and so he was able to save some money from this business.

He decided to return to Ogbomoso in 1943 but on the trip back he lost all his savings to money doublers and gamblers at Ede. Thus, he arrived in Ogbomoso penniless. He was not down nonetheless.

He went back to the cloth-weaving business and had a stall at Arowomole market. He used to ride a rickety bicycle to Ilorin to buy cotton for his business but he never minded, he was focused on success.

Then, in 1944, a window of opportunity opened for him as a maternal uncle living in Jos, who came to Ogbomoso to get married, took him along while returning to his abode in Jos.

He arrived in the tin city of Jos on May 17, 1944, where he soon began to assist his elder brother (of the same mother), Prince Moses Oyelowo Oyewumi, a tailor, who already was living in Jos, to sell clothes.

He later convinced his brother to let him practice cloth-weaving, the products of which they sold. The business prospered though at great exertion because he used to trek long distances to sell the woven clothes at mining sites all around Jos.

He served his brother with devotion and was exceedingly honest. Even when Oyelowo went back to Ogbomoso to get married in 1945 and was stranded back home for six months due to a workers’ strike, Oyelowo returned to see the products well kept and his business intact. A rare thing today!

In 1946 nevertheless, the spirit of self-actualization overwhelmed the young Oladunni and he decided to be independent. He received the blessing of his brother, who gave him an old sewing machine and a sum of two pounds, sixteen shillings to start off.

He bought and sewed clothes which he sold. Because he poured his heart into the work and turned out exquisite designs, his business witnessed a tremendous spike and he began to flourish.

Oladunni, the businessman now really began to unravel.

Career And Accomplishments

The then Prince Oyewumi now set his eyes on real success. At just 20, he began the journey to the top. He took his savings of about 50 pounds to start trading in bicycles, specifically, double spring Raleigh, which he sourced from Lagos, and he began to make money.

However, life is always full of twists and turns. He soon fell victim to fraudsters; he trusted someone who assured him he would help buy the products directly from the UAC at very cheap rates.

So, they went together to the company; he handed the money to the man who pretended to go into an office but bolted away through an exit door unknown to the young prince. He had lost four pounds, fifty shillings.

It was a crushing blow but he soon gathered himself and the dream of being educated, he enrolled for evening classes at St. Paul’s School in Jos.

While doing this, he did not lose sight of his goal, and one day, he walked into the GB Olivant to look over the shop, While there, he came across a manager in the company, a certain Mr. Smith, who was a Scot national. They bonded and became friends.

Over time, Mr Smith offered Prince Oyewumi an attractive business deal, which involved being given goods on credit and making payment after sales, an opportunity he grabbed with both hands.

This opened a new vista of prospects for him which he masterfully explored. He continued to have a robust relationship with Mr. Smith and this association helped him a lot to hone his business skills.

He continued to grow and would later do business with other conglomerates like PZ, SCOA, and CFAO.

His association with Smith was a real blessing to him, he was to Prince Oladunni what some people call “destiny helper” today.

Smith introduced him to other expatriates who also found his honesty and entrepreneurial acumen worthy.

He met Mr. Holford, the manager of the then Barclay’s Bank, through Smith; he opened an account with the bank which began to advance him credit facilities with which he expanded his business.

By 1950, Prince Oyewumi had become sufficiently established in his trading business that he decided to get married. He got married to his most senior wife Olori Igbayilola Oyewumi.  

In 1954, he was made the sole distributor for CFAO in Jos. He now became a big-time businessman and travelled to France in 1958 and to some other European countries including Germany, where he was appointed as the distributor of Becks beer in Nigeria.

He made some other business deals across Europe which entrenched his international status as a businessman.

He also consolidated in Nigeria and became a charming prince dashing across Nigerian cities to forge new business deals. But fate had a greater role for him.

His fame soared across Nigeria, becoming widely known as the “The Prince.” His business interests cut across many sectors. in the 1950s, He built the very popular Terminus Hotel, in Jos, and later in Osogbo before that of Ogbomoso.

The area where his Terminus Hotel, Jos Plateau state stands is now one of the most popular and busiest areas in Jos to date.

By 1958, the wealthy prince had started showing interest in estate development and property acquisition, and in that same year, the Prince met a European who so much admired his entrepreneurial ability that he offered to take him on a business vacation trip to the continent of Europe upon which they travel to France, Paris and United kingdom.

ASCENSION TO THE THRONE

In 1973 the Oyo state military governor invited the Gbagun ruling house to present a candidate for the appointment as Soun of Ogbomosoland after the passing away of the former king.

Ninety-four members who were of the Gbagun ruling house met and two candidates emerged to contest for the vacant stool but it turned out that 90 out of the 94 decision-makers favoured the candidacy of Prince Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi.

With such majority support the then Prince Oladunni became the Soun to the delight and acceptance of his people.

He was traditionally installed on December 14, 1973, as the 20th Soun of Ogbomoso and coronated on January 12, 1974.

Meanwhile, The Late Oba Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi’s installation as Soun instigated a major crisis in 1973.

This is because he dared to do what his predecessors did not do – wearing a beaded crown because the stool was considered that of Baale.

Yoruba Obas were alarmed, from Ife to Oyo, to Abeokuta, to Orangun-Ila and so on, there were hurried meetings to plan how to forestall “this upstart from committing a sacrilege.”

They cried foul that as Soun he was not entitled to wear a beaded crown, They conspired with the governor of the then Western State, Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi to thwart the move but he was adamant in the true spirit of his Ajagungbade cognomen.

His grandfather Gbagunboye Ajamasa Ondugbe (1870 – 1877) became known as Ajagungbade I after his heroics in battles.

It was at a battle in Ilesa in 1870s, where he led Ogbomoso warriors, that he reportedly beheaded a sovereign and took his crown as his own!

Then, Soun had his reasons, if he was constantly greeted, “K’ade pe lori, ki bata pelese,” but he had no crown to show for it, it amounted to a mockery of his position.

He further claimed that his grandfather – Gbagun – fought gallantly to win that crown earning him the appellation, Ajagungbade literally meaning the one who fought in battle and claimed the crown.

His grandfather despite being regarded and acknowledged as Ajagungbade I in the 1870s and the size and fame of Ogbomoso as home of the brave From the time of the first Soun, Ogunlola Ogundiran to Jogioro, to Kumoyede to Toyeje Akanni, Ogbomoso’s stool was still not upgraded to the status of Oba.

Late Oba Jimoh Oyewumi’s own father Baale Afolabi Bello Alabi Oyewumi (1916 – 1940) despite being the Ajagungbade II was not also upgraded to the status of an Oba.

This simply can’t continue now.

“Ajagungbade III is an Oba, the Soun, not a Baale”. The late Soun insisted and so it remained till date.

His traducers asked him to name the Oba from which Gbagun claimed the crown but he strongly countered: “Name the Oba that lost his crown and I will tell from whom he gained the crown!”

They had no answer to this. The ding-dong persisted. The Military Governor also warned him sternly against the act but he was undaunted.

He is bold, and courageous and his nerves are made of steel.

That saved the day for him. He dared the whole establishment and came out victorious.

He wore the beaded crown both at the installation and coronation ceremonies on December 14, 1973, and January 12, 1974, respectively.

The local council had also threatened not to fund the installation ceremony if he insisted on wearing the much-vaunted beaded crown, but he called its bluff and funded the ceremony from his purse.

Oba Oladunni Oyewumi is an example of the indomitable spirit of the ancient Ogbomoso warlord, which made a difference during the Fulani onslaught against Yorubaland in the 1800s.

That was the first of his numerous accomplishments for Ogbomoso.

An untoward consequence of this plot against him according to him is the loss of the prescribing authority of the Obas to determine who wears a beaded crown to the government.

LEGACY AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The contributions of Oba Oladunni Oyewumi to the growth and development of Ogbomoso cannot be exhausted in volumes of books not to talk of a website like johnsonokunadea.com.

He had breathed into the city his adventurous spirit and cosmopolitan outlook to make an unbelievable impact. He is the monarch who built a semi-town into a metropolis of no mean value.

He is the overlord who overnight changed the status of his stool, from Baale to Oba. Many of us, who walk the streets of Ogbomoso today, filled with pleasure about its magnificence, would have been confronted with a bucolic community.

This traditional ruler has something in him, his wide connections coupled with his charming personality often stand him in good stead in attracting development.

He is the monarch who restored Ogbomoso’s boundaries and thrust it to its greatest apogee. When he assumed the stool, Ogbomoso had only three taxi cabs, only three secondary schools, lopsided electricity, limited telephone facilities, poor infrastructures especially in respect to roads, and so on.

We are all witnesses to how the narrative has changed today. One may think that any Oba who sits on the throne would have done the same, but this is a wrong assumption.

He is a man of great assets, in terms of wealth and personality, these are at his beck and call to facilitate developments, particularly at the inception of his reign.

It was his persona that made Ogbomoso a kingdom today ruled over by a king, Had it been someone else, who lacked grains of courage, knowledge, and wherewithal, the migration to the status of Oba wouldn’t have occurred in time.

In 1976, in fact, his struggles ensured that the Soun became an Oba officially. It is on record that the agitation of Oba Oyewumi facilitated this upgrading, which rubbed off well on the Ibadan traditional stool too for the stool was that of a Baale

He brought immense prestige to the throne of Soun and it was him that made it rank with the highest-ranked across the country today.

Also to his eternal glory, he caused the rebuilding of Ogbomoso palace to a befitting one after he ascended to the throne.

The old building consisting of a rustic upstairs built of mud was pulled down for the masterpiece that is Ogbomoso Palace today.

It was officially opened in March 1978. Furthermore, he spearheaded the legal battle over the boundary of Ogbomoso and Oyo. While Alaafin claimed the boundary was at Odo-Oba, Soun insisted it was at Ipeba.

It should be noted that this struggle spanned many decades, about 75 years. Oba Oladunni Oyewumi reopened it and it ended in victory for Ogbomoso in 1984 when the city claimed victory at the Supreme Court.

In that fashion, Ogbomoso won back many of its communities and lands.

The siting of a university and two teaching hospitals, a good network of roads, a television and two radio stations, a Federal Government College, a Government Technical College, numerous secondary schools (both public and private), several commercial and microfinance banks including a branch of the Bank of Agriculture, dual carriage roads, stadium, police area command and many more are some of the legacies that will forever define his reign.

The beautiful thing about all this is that upon mounting the saddle, he approached the right authorities to bring these things.

For instance, he just invited old acquaintances who headed NITEL and the electricity company at Osogbo at the time to significantly improve their services in his domain and these were affected.

So is the case with the upgrading of the Ogbomoso command to an area command.

Also, many indigenes of the city continue to rise in status in their careers occupying eminent positions that buoy the prestige of the community in the comity of communities.

late Soun Ajagungbade III bagged many awards and recognitions including being conferred with the prestigious national awards of Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) and Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), the second being the highest conferred on any traditional ruler.

He was the Chancellor of Plateau State University till his death and he is a highly revered traditional ruler.

He has his flaws no doubt but the greatness he impacted on Ogbomoso is evidence of his own greatness. On a personal level, he is a job creator in Ogbomoso, his interests cover oil and gas, real estate, hospitality, etc.

Old age eventually set in, and his vitality and agility were reduced, slowing him down significantly but the sharpness and clearness of his mind till his final breath were still with him and in his head was continuously conjured the bright things he desired for his kingdom.

One can conveniently say that in terms of accomplishments for Ogbomoso, only his great ancestors – Soun Olabanjo Ogundiran Ogunlola, Baale/Kakanfo Toyeje Akanni Alebiosu, and Baale Oluwusi Aremu could rival him.

The Soun of Ogbomoso, His Royal Majesty Oba Jimoh Oladunni Oyewumi Ajagungbade III JP, CON, joined his ancestors in the wee hours of Sunday, 12th December 2021 at the very ripe age of 95 and impactful 48 long years of serving Ogbomoso people diligently; the longest-reigning monarch of the 27 rulers Ogbomoso ever had.

May his soul rest in peace.

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