# the Women's and Boys Group Dence
#the founded a political party, the Action Group, with some of the Egbe’s members as its nucleus, and in the process became the party’s first president. The party called for an immediate end to British rule and for the development of several social welfare programs. In 1951 the party won the…
READ MORE
history of western Africa

In western Africa: The formation of African independence movements
…two nationalist parties emerged, the Action Group (AG), supported primarily by the Yoruba of the west, and the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), whose prime support came from the Igbo of the east. These parties expected the whole country quickly to follow the Ghanaian pattern of constitutional change. But…
READ MORE
role in Nigeria

In Nigeria: Political process
The Action Group (AG) and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) were the major Nigerian parties when the country became independent in 1960. However, their regional rather than national focus—the AG represented the west, the NPC the north, and the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons…
READ MORE
OBAFEMI AWOLOWO
Sections & Media
HomePolitics, Law & GovernmentWorld LeadersOther Politicians
Obafemi Awolowo
Nigerian statesman
Cite More
BY The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica View Edit History
2-Min Summary
FULL ARTICLE
Obafemi Awolowo, also known as Chief Obafemi Awolowo or Awo, (born March 6, 1909, Ikenne, Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria—died May 9, 1987, Ikenne, Nigeria), Nigerian statesman who was a strong and influential advocate of independence, nationalism, and federalism. He was also known for his progressive views concerning social welfare.

Obafemi Awolowo
See all media
Born:
March 6, 1909 NigeriaDied: May 9, 1987 (aged 78) NigeriaFounder: Action GroupPolitical Affiliation: Action GroupNotable Works: “Path to Nigerian Freedom”
Awolowo was born in Ikenne, then part of the British Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. The son of a peasant, Awolowo first studied to be a teacher and later worked as a clerk, trader, and newspaper reporter while organizing trade unions and participating in nationalist politics in his spare time. In the 1930s he became an active member of the Lagos Youth Movement—later the Nigerian Youth Movement—and rose to become its secretary for the Western Province. During that time he came to bemoan the ethnic divisions within the nationalist movement and the growing political inequalities between some of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities and regions.
Awolowo went to London in 1944 to study law, and while there he founded the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Yoruba: “Society of the Descendants of Oduduwa”) to promote the culture and unity of the Yoruba people, one of the three largest ethnic groups in colonial Nigeria, and to ensure a secure future for them. During that period Awolowo also wrote the influential Path to Nigerian Freedom (1947), in which he made his case for the need of a federal form of government in an independent Nigeria to safeguard the interests of each ethnic nationality and region and to create a sustainable basis for Nigerian unity. He also called for rapid progress toward self-government.
In 1947 Awolowo returned to Ibadan to practice law, and the following year he established the Egbe Omo Oduduwa in Nigeria. In 1950–51 he founded a political party, the Action Group, with some of the Egbe’s members as its nucleus, and in the process became the party’s first president. The party called for an immediate end to British rule and for the development of several social welfare programs. In 1951 the party won the first elections held in the Western Region, one of the colony’s three administrative divisions, and Awolowo later served as leader of government business and minister for local government structure, the latter for which he established elective councils. From 1954 to 1959, as premier of the Western Region, Awolowo worked to improve education, social services, and agricultural practices, implementing many progressive policies. Notably, his administration introduced programs that provided free health care for children and free universal primary education. The first television station in Africa was established in the Western Region by his administration as well.
Meanwhile, he tried to build the Action Group into an effective nationwide party by making alliances with ethnic groups in other regions. Awolowo supported his party’s efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s progress toward self-government by pushing the British to commit to an early date for independence. After a disappointing showing in the hard-fought 1959 elections and after the two other major parties had formed a coalition, he became leader of the opposition in the federal House of Representatives. After Nigeria achieved independence in 1960, Awolowo began to modify his earlier position, leaning toward socialism and advocating a neutral foreign policy rather than his earlier pro-Western position.