Nigerian lawyer, politician and businessman
|
---|
|
|
|
In office
1933?1942
|
|
In office
1948?1952
|
|
|
Born
| Placido Assumpcao
(
1884-05-25
)
25 May 1884
|
---|
Died
| 10 May 1952
(1952-05-10)
(aged 67)
|
---|
Citizenship
| Nigerian
|
---|
Nationality
| Nigerian
|
---|
Spouse
|
Christina Ayodele George
(
m.
1907; died 1938)
|
---|
Children
| Titi Alakija
Aduke Alakija
|
---|
Parents
| - Marculino Assumpcao (father)
- Maximilliana Assumpcao (mother)
|
---|
Relatives
| Kofi Annan
(son-in-law)
Kojo Annan
(grandson)
Olayinka Taiwo Alakija and Adeyemo Kehinde Alakija (identical twins born in 1981)
(grandsons)
[1]
|
---|
Alma mater
| Oxford University
|
---|
Occupation
|
- Politician
- Lawyer
- Businessman
|
---|
|
Oloye
Sir
Adeyemo Alakija
,
Listen
ⓘ
KBE
(25 May 1884 ? 10 May 1952) was a Nigerian
lawyer
,
politician
and businessman. He served as a member of the Nigerian legislative council for nine years starting in 1933. In 1942, he became a member of the governor's Executive Council. Alakija was president of
Egbe Omo Oduduwa
from 1948 until his death in 1952.
Alakija's collaboration with
Herbert Macaulay
and Egerton Shyngle early in his political career brought him prominence but after falling out with Macaulay and because of his moderate political views, his popularity began to wane until the early 1950s when he had begun to develop favour in the eyes of the public.
[2]
Alakija developed close relationships with many organizations and communities among whom were the Lebanese and Syrian community in Nigeria, he was decorated with a medal of the cedars after his visit to Lebanon in 1949.
[3]
He held the
chieftaincy
titles of the
Lisa
of
Egbaland
and the
Woje Ileri
of
Ile-Ife
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Alakija was born to the family of Marculino (sometimes called Elemeji) and Maxmilliana Assumpcao; he was the youngest of the seven children in the family. His father was of
Egba
ancestry and his mother was the daughter of Alfa Cyprian Akinosho Tairu of
Oyo
. His eldest brother Maxwell Porphyrio Assumpcao-Alakija was a barrister in
Bahia
and father in-law of Sir
Olumuyiwa Jibowu
, and one of his brothers (who went on to become his law partner) was Olayimika Alakija, a former member of the
Nigerian Legislative Council
. An elder sister, Tejumade Assumpcao, became
Olori
Tejumade Alakija Ademola, Lady Ademola when she married Sir
Ladapo Ademola
, the
Alake of Egbaland
, her family's ancestral homeland. Alakija attended St Gregory's Catholic School
[4]
before moving to
CMS Grammar School, Lagos
.
[5]
He later studied at
Oxford University
in the early 1930s, and became an ardent proponent for the provision of tertiary education to Nigerians during the colonial period.
After finishing his secondary education, Alakija started work in the post office in 1900 and served in the civil service for ten years.
[4]
[2]
He then proceeded to study Law in London, earning his qualification in 1913,
[4]
and thereafter opened a law practice in Lagos. His law firm was successful but his foray into elective politics met opposition from
Herbert Macaulay
, a former friend of his whose politics diverged as a result of the Lagos Eleko crisis.
[4]
Alakija was opposed to
Eshugbayi Eleko
, the
Oba of Lagos
and the Oba's supporters including the Jamat Muslims and Macaulay. He was a candidate in the 1923
legislative elections
but lost. However, from 1933 to 1941, he was a nominated member representing Egba division in the Legislative Council. He was also the first president of the
Island Club
.
Career
[
edit
]
Sir Adeyemo Alakija was a
newspaper
entrepreneur who co-founded the
Daily Times of Nigeria
with
Ernest Ikoli
and Richard Barrow, who was the president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce. The newspaper flourished with the support of advertising revenue from expatriate companies and despite its pro-government stance. Alakija assumed the chairmanship of the paper's publishing arm, the Nigerian Printing and Publishing Company. He was also a member of the governor's executive council and was president of the
Nigerian Youth Movement
.
[6]
He was heavily influenced by the tidal waves of cultural nationalism in Nigeria during the early twentieth century. It was this self-assertiveness that led his family to abandon their assimilated Portuguese name in favour of a
native
one, Alakija, in 1913. Towards the end of his life it culminated in his ascending to the
aristocracy
of his tribe, as he was created the
Bariyun
of the Ake Lineage of Egbaland and the
Woje Ileri
of
Ile-Ife
.
[7]
The
Oloye
Alakija, whose first name originally was Placido, was of
Afro
-
Brazilian
descent like many freed
slaves
resident in
Lagos
. The groups were sometimes called
Amaros
. The Alakija family for a while were the most prominent Amaros in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, he embraced some
traditional
elements of Yoruba socio-
political
and religious history when he co-founded the
Reformed Ogboni Fraternity
and became the Olori Oluwo, or "Grandmaster", of the brotherhood. As a member of the confraternity, he introduced the use of
masonic
symbols inside the organization, such as the unblinking eye on an inverted V and three vertical shapes. He was himself also a
freemason
of high rank.
[8]
Alakija was influential in the development of
Egbe Omo Oduduwa
and later the
Action Group
and was donor to both organizations.
[9]
Alakija died in the early hours of May 10, 1952. The night before, he had attended a dinner hosted by Sir
Mobolaji Bank Anthony
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Alakija married Christina Ayodele George in 1907. George died in 1938, and he later took on another wife, Lady Ayodele. Alakija sent most of his children from his first wife to Britain for education.
[4]
One of them, his only daughter, was
Aduke Alakija
. One of his sons, Babatunde, was a British Public School High Jump champion and one of the first Africans to be enrolled for training as a pilot.
[10]
Another son, Oluwole Ayodele Alakija, was the former president of
WASU
in London and a member of
Egbe Omo Oduduwa
. Chief Alakija was a founding member and president of the Island Club of Lagos and was a founding member and Vice President of the
Nigeria Football Association
in 1933.
[11]
His grandson is
Kojo Annan
, a Ghanaian businessman and son of former
UN
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
.
[12]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Adebiyi Adegoke (November 27, 2014).
"Meet The Literati Yinka Alakija"
.
Literati
. Lagos
. Retrieved
September 29,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Ikoli, Ernest (May 12, 1952). "Outstanding man of his time".
Daily Times (Lagos)
.
- ^
Khawam, Elias (May 12, 1952). "Lebanese Tribute".
Daily Times (Lagos)
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Nwoko, Greg (19 November 2014).
"Adeyemo Alakija"
.
Greg Nwoko
.
- ^
Anibaba, Musliu Olaiya (October 2013).
A Lagosian of the 20th century: an autobiography
. Tisons Limited. p. 89.
ISBN
978-1623710408
.
- ^
Richard L. Sklar,
Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation
, Africa World Press, 2004, p. 48.
ISBN
1-59221-209-3
- ^
Raph Uwechue and Various Others,
Makers of Modern Africa: Profiles in History
, Africa Books Ltd. Second Edition 1991, p. 47.
ISBN
0-903274-18-3
- ^
James Lorand Matory,
Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian
, Princeton University
Press, pp. 46-50, 68-70.
ISBN
0-691-05944-6
- ^
Akintola, Samuel (May 13, 1952). "Tributes to Late Sir Adeyemo Alakija".
Daily Times (Lagos)
.
- ^
The Crisis. (1941). Vol. 48, No. 3. March 1941. P. 82
- ^
"The founders of NFA/NFF"
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-06-04
. Retrieved
2016-05-22
.
- ^
Whiteman, Kaye (21 October 2013).
Lagos: A Cultural and Literary History
. Andrews UK Limited.
ISBN
9781908493897
. Retrieved
7 February
2017
.