CHAPTER ELEVEN:NATIONALISM IN NIGERIA

"There are times when even the greatest tactician in diplomatic cunning is outclassed in his own game. It is then that he discovers that all that he thought he had gained is but loss, and that what is left of national honor and dignity is but the shadow of an illustrious past that is gone forever, or of a potentially great future that will never come."~Obafemi Awolowo

CHIEF SAMUEL LADOKE AKINTOLA: THE CELEBRATED YORUBA POLITICAL DEMAGOGUE AND PRIME MINISTER OF WESTERN NIGERIA

Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá or “S.L.A.”was a celebrated Nigerian politician of Yoruba extraction. He was the prime minister of Western Nigeria and is fondly renowned for his great oratorical skills and recognizable Yoruba tribal facial marks.

He held the highly revered title of Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of Yorubaland. The powerful Yoruba politician was one of an early victim of the January 1966 military coup in Nigeria that took the life of Sardauna of Sokoto and premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Premier of federal and independent Nigeria Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

SIR ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA: THE GENTLE BLACK ROCK AND THE FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF NIGERIA

“I am pleased to see that we are now all agreed that the Federal system is, under present conditions, the only sure basis on which Nigeria will remain united. We must recognize our diversity and the peculiar conditions under which the different tribal communities live in this country” Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE, OBE, CBE (December 1912 - January 15, 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and the only prime minister of an independent Nigeria. He was described as a ‘cool figure' who pre-occupied himself with holding together Nigeria's more than 250 ethnic groups when duty was entrusted to him to became Nigeria`s independent prime minister for the federation.

A man who was originally a trained as a teacher, he became a vocal leader for Northern interests as one of the few educated Nigerians of his time. He was also an international statesman, widely respected across the African continent as one of the leaders who encouraged the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) now African Union (AU). Balewa was nicknamed "the Golden Voice of Africa" because of his oratorical prowess and eloquence, he stands as one of only three National Heroes of the Nigerian Nation.

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National Movements and New States in Africa