born March 6, 1909, Ikenne, Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
died May 9, 1987, Ikenne
Nigerian nationalist politician and leader of the Yoruba ethnic group.
While studying law in London, he wrote the influential Path to Nigerian Freedom (1947) and laid the basis for the first Yoruba political party, the Action Group. As premier of Nigeria's Western Region (1954–59), he worked to improve education, social services, and agriculture. He remained a major figure in national politics but never won high elective office.