UNILAG GREAT

THE LABOUR OF OUR HEROES PAST….

Life is like a stage, some have acted, we are acting and some are still coming to act. I was having a conversation a fortnight ago with a senior colleague, he told me he once had a show of shame in a job interview when the interviewer asked him what hostel did you stay in your final session, he replied and said El-kanemi. Then the next question was, tell us what you know about the great El-kanemi. Sadly, he was silent because he did not know and had never read who he was and that was how the interview ended and he missed the job. This and other reasons are why I painstakingly compile this brief history of notable names of some undergraduate’s hall of residence on the University of Lagos main campus. 

QUEEN AMINA was a Hausa Muslim warrior, her date of birth was dated by to 1533, and she was the Queen of Zazzau (now Zaria) in what is now north central Nigeria. As an adult she refused to marry like Queen Elizabeth the first of England for the fear of losing her power as a warrior and Queen. She helped zazzau (zaria) become the center of trade and to gain more land. Her mother Queen Bakwa died when Amina was 16yrs old leaving her to rule over Zaria. The introduction of Kolanuts into cultivation in the north is attributed to Queen Amina. A statue at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos state honors her. She died in the year 1610 after winning so many battles.

BIOBAKU, SABURI OLADENI was born on June 6, 1918 in Abeokuta. He was Nigeria scholar and historian who were among a set of Yoruba historians who followed the pioneering effort of Samuel Johnson in settling the foundation of Yoruba historiography and creating references notes of indigenous African historical literature. He attended yaba government college, Ibadan and yaba higher college. He attended Cambridge University for his master’s degree and University of London Institute of historical research for his PhD. He was secretary to the premier of the western region, Nigeria. He was a registrar and later serves as the pro-chancellor in University of Ibadan and in 1965, he was appointed as the vice chancellor of the University of Lagos. He died in 2001 after his service to God and humanity. 

ENI-NJOKU was born on November 6, 1917 in Ebem, Ohafia, Abia state professor Eni-njoku studied Botany at the University of Manchester in England. He graduated with a first class honour degree in 1947 and obtained his M.A. degree the following year. In 1954, he obtained his doctorate degree from the University of London. When he returned to Nigeria, Eni Njoku took up teaching appointment at the University of Ibadan as a lecturer. He later became a senior lecturer and then professor. He was head and Dean of the faculty of science. He was chairman of the electricity corporation of Nigeria in 1956. In 1962, he became the first vice chancellor of the University of Lagos. He resigned in 1965 following a major crisis over his re-appointment.

EL KANEMI was born in 1974, fourth son of the 17^th shehu of Borno. He was brought up in Dikwa, Borno state. He became secretary to the Wali of Borno in 1945 and subsequently worked in different department of the Native Authority as the representative of the shehu. In 1952 he attended the Ahamadu Bello University, Zaria where he studied public Administration. El kanemi was elected to the northern region house of assembly in 1956, representing the Damaturu/ Busari constituency and was re-elected in 1959. He was parliamentary secretary in the Northern region during the Nigeria first republic. El kanemi returned to Maiduguri in 1966 and was appointed shehu of borno in 1974 and later the vice president of the supreme council for Islamic affairs. He died in Cairo, Egypt in 2009.

FAGUNWA, DANIEL popularly known as D.O. Fagunwa, was a Nigerian author who pioneered the Yoruba language novel. He was born in Oke-Igbo, ondo state. In 1938 he participated in a literary contest of the Nigerian Ministry of Education, Fagunwa wrote his Ogboju ode ninu igbo Irumole (The forest of a thousand Demons). The novel is considered the first novel written in the Yoruba language and one of the first to be written in any African language. Wole Soyinka translated the book into English in 1968, Fagunwa later works include Igbo Olodumare (The forest of God, 1949), Aditu Eledumare and so on. Fagunwa was made a member of the order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1959. He died in a river in 1963, the ground by the bank of the river gave way under his feet and he fell into the river, her widow Elizabeth Fagunwa is still alive and have refused to re-marry for over 50yrs of her husband demise.

JAJA OF OPOBO (Full name Jubo Jubogha). He was born in the year 1821, he was a merchant prince and the founder of Opobo city state in an area that is now part of Nigeria. Born in Umuduruoha in Igbo-land he was sold when he was twelve years old as a slave in Bonny. Jubo Jubogha later took the name Jaja for his dealing with the British. Jaja proved his aptitude for business at an early age earning his way out of slavery. He was enculturated according to the Ijaw rituals and eventually established himself as head of the Anna people House under Jaja leadership, Anna people soon absorbed a number of Bonny’s other trade houses until ongoing dispute with the Manilla people house led by Jumbo who forced Jaja to break away as Opobo city-state in 1869. Opobo became rich in palm oil business and also shipped it directly to Liverpool. Jaja  was arrested and tried in accra and  was granted permission to return to Opobo after years of fighting against his wrongful abduction when it was agreed by the parliament that he could be repatriated to Opobo, Jaja was by then an old man and died on route British vessel which was bound for Opobo.

MARIERE, SAMUEL JERETON was born in the year 1907 in Ughelli, Delta State. He was the first Governor of the former Midwest state of Nigeria from Feb 1964 to Jan 1966. He was also the first chancellor of the University of Lagos, Akoka Lagos and the first president of the Christian council in Nigeria. Mariere died on the 9^th of May 1971.  

Dr. E.N.O. SODEINDE was a medical practitioner in the Lagos university teaching hospital (LUTH) Idi-araba and a stickler for procedure. In 1962, legislative law was established by the federal parliament and a provisional council was formed which made him the first chairman of the university of Lagos governing council.

PRINCESS MOREMI, AJASORO the princess of Ile-Ife in Yoruba land was a figure of high significance in the history of the Yoruba peoples of west Africa. She was a member by marriage of the royal family of Emperor Oduduwa, the tribes fabled founding father Olori Moremi hailed from Ile-Ife, a kingdom that is said to have been at war with an adjoining tribe who were known to them as the forest people. Scores of Ife Citizen were enslaved by these people and because of this they were generally regarded with disdain by Yoruba city states. Moremi was a very brave and beautiful woman who in order to deal with the problem facing her people, she was taken as a slave by the Igbo due to her beauty, the Igbo ruler married her due to her beauty and he anointed her as Queen. After familiarizing herself with the secret of her new husband, she escaped to Ile-Ife and revealed this to the Yoruba which were able to subsequently defeat them in battle. She later returned to her first husband, King Oraniyan of Ife who re-instates her back as princess.

KOFOWOROLA, ADEMOLA was the widow of Adetokunbo Ademola (the first indigeneous Chief Justice of Nigeria). She was born on the 21^st of May, 1913. She attended C.M.S. girls school and then portway college in Reading college England and then St. Hugh college, Oxford. She is the first black female undergraduate at Oxford university and first female Nigerian to graduate from the prestigious university. She was a member of the first provisional council of the University of Lagos and one of the first consultant to the United Bank of Africa (U.B.A.). from this position, she subsequently joined the board of the bank and was director with R.T. Briscoe. She was the first Nigerian director of the Red Cross (Western region) and was also the first president of the National council for women society (N.S.W.S.). Her involvement in such associations facilitated her to awarded a  member of the British empire (MBE) award in 1958 and order of the federal republic of Nigeria (OFR) by late prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Madam Kofo has she is popularly called died six days before her 89^th birthday.

MADAM TINUBU, EFUNROYE came to Lagos for the first time when her husband Adele became king but his reign was brief because he died in 1837 without her bearing him any child. She relocated to Badagry from the palace where she started her trade from Abeokuta to Badagry which was mainly on salt, tobacco and war items and this was a period of slave trading in 1835. As a prominent business woman Madam Tinubu became an important middleman in trade between Europeans and the Yorubaland interior by creating large trading networks. She came into political limelight when Akintoye and Kosoko ( her nephew and uncle) engaged in a battle for the throne of Lagos where she supplied Akintoye’s forces with arms and ammunition, eventually Akintoye became regined his throne. Madam Tinubu became the first Iyalode of the Egba clan. She is also immortalized with her statue in the Tinubu square in Lagos Island, a place previously known as Independent square is named after her. She died in 1887 after an illustrious career in business and politics.

Good people live forever, they might not be present physically but their legacy lives on, we can also write our names in gold now that we are still living but we need to act right to make our service to God and humanity appear on the good books of history.

 COMPILED BY:

OLONITOLA TUNDE

MARINE SCI. 400L